#marinette deserves a break from never being allowed to make the right choice

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The Scarf vs The Sentistuff

I’ve seen a few post talking about how the scarf from season one was foreshadowing the fact that Marinette would never tell Adrien about his status or his father. I don’t think that’s necessarily wrong, but it’s a loose connection at best and I think that you can ignore it while still being true to her season one characterization. The two situations are wildly different and I don’t just mean the severity of the secrets.

The first thing that needs to be noted is that the fandom loves that scarf more than Adrien ever did. He wore it all of once and has never mentioned or worn it again. While the scarf lie is, technically, ongoing, it’s hard to argue that it has meaningful long-term effects on Adrien. If he cherished the scarf and always talked about it and how it changed how he viewed his father or something like that, then you’d have a case for this being something that he really should know. As-is, not so much. 

The second thing is that Marinette didn’t have any time to think through the scarf lie. It was a gut reaction, not something that she carefully considered. She has never been given a second chance to bring it up. Sure, she could randomly mention it, but it would be a weird thing to do given that Adrien doesn’t seem to even remember the scarf.

The third thing is what the reveal would actually do and the nature of the secrets themselves. The scarf was a gift that Marinette made to make Adrien happy. Telling him the truth would ruin her gift with no real benefit other than the truth being know. Once again, if Adrien found the scarf incredibly meaningful, then this wouldn’t be true. But he doesn’t. He was just happy that he got a nice gift and that was Marinette’s goal, so it’s hard to argue that she needed to tell him. Especially since she has no idea how the mixup happened. She doesn’t even know that he was lied to. She just knows that he got the facts wrong.

None of the above can be said for the fact that Adrien has two slave collars or the fact that his father was a terrorist. Those things have very meaningful long-term impacts on Adrien. Especially the first one. They’re not white lies. Keeping these things from him is, actively, hurting him and the choice to do so was thought out. It’s hard to view it in the same light as the scarf or even something like Chat Blanc. While Chat Noir should have been told about that event, I blame Bunnyx more than Marinette. Marinette has no idea what caused Chat Blanc and was given no rules about how to avoid it, so there’s logic in it making her paranoid because, for all she knows, telling him could be literally world ending. The consequences of telling her boyfriend the truth? Well, those would only be relationship ending and that’s not even gaurenteed. It’s an entirely different flavor of lie from every other lie that she’s told. One that only benefits her, which is wildly out of character and pretty clearly only done for cheep drama.

Also, if you’re gonna blame Marinette, maybe consider blaming Nathalie more? Lil’ miss “I can pin Gabe any time I want and am totally a good guy now” could have taken the rings as soon as she switched sides. She could have also explained everything to Adrien when she knew that she and Gabriel were dying. Food for thought and feel free to share your thoughts about this in a reblog, comment, or ask!

[flightfoot]

You know, it just hit me that a good chunk of the salt going around is just salters reading the show as author's objective intent instead of a biased deep Marinette POV.

Like Marinette seeming to be blamed for a lot of things unfairly? It could just be Marinette blaming herself as it is canon that she catastrophises things out of proportions. Complaints about the narrative seeing Adrien as a perfect do-no-wrong Gary Stu and its refusal to acknowledge his flaws? Marinette has a rose tinted view of him thanks to her huge crush. No one criticizing Chat Noir's less than heroic acts and not being as useful as Ladybug? Marinette is forgiving and understanding and doesn't hold most of it against Chat Noir. Heck, maybe Marinette herself subconsciously underestimates him (there are a few dialogues, especially in early seasons, that indicate so), hence, his downplayed role. Alya being an enabler of her worst traits not being called out on? Marinette appreciates her constant support amd encouragement and both teens aren't aware of the more negative conotations of some of their actions (and its not like Alya doesn't draw the line at anything, but salters are just gonna salt on her whenever she does). Chloe's wasted redemption arc and Zoe subsequently getting shilled into her place when she doesnt deserve it? Marinette is not obligated to forgive Chloe nor does she have to keep working with her if she doesn't want to, especially when there's this shiny new person she would prefer to have on her team. Master Fu still being depicted as a good mentor while Master Su Han being nothing more than a straightman not allowed to be right? Between the two, at least Fu was kind and tried to help Marinette while Su Han did nothing but scold her. Despite having good points, Su Han didn't really help her at all while Fu did the bare minimum... Before foisting his responsibilities on her, but Marinette doesn't see it that way.

The actual writing has a lot of flaws in general and does rely on a lot of suspension of disbelief, which has been pushed too far for some, I am not defending that. There are narrative choices that I myself don't like. But thinking of the show as a heavily biased deep Marinette POV with a few breaks here and there makes sense to me as she is their intended protagonist. It helps me accept a lot of things about the show.

I mean, it kind of depends on the specifics of what's being talked about. Like, we see things from a third-person view, so we can see objectively the facts of what's happening.

But you're right about a lot of the framing being from Marinette's point of view, which isn't exactly unbiased. Like, Marinette thinking that no one listens to her, as Marinette, in Risk. It's true that people didn't really believe her in that case, since she was making a major claim about Adrien that didn't align with what other people saw, and was advocating for action that could potentially be harmful if she was wrong. But it's not a case of people never listening to Marinette, and just listening to Ladybug. People would listen to Ladybug because when it comes to things that are Miraculous-related, she IS an authority figure on that, more than anyone else they might interact with is. While with Marinette... well, her classmates do listen to her about most things, just not everything. Marinette's not an authority figure on other people's relationships or feelings the way that Ladybug is an authority on the Miraculous. So that was less of an objective statement by the narrative, and more something that was framed from Marinette's POV.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Hack-San

You know, it's honestly amazing how creative this show can get. After four seasons and almost one hundred episodes, the writers are still finding new ways to make Adrien an incredibly unlikable character, and they don't even know how much of an asshole they're making him out to be at times. It's kind of like the opposite of The Producers.

Yeah, this review's going to be a little more ranty than usual, in case you can't tell.

Let's get into the fifteenth (chronologically the sixteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Hack-San

We start off with Marinette pretending to be sick so she doesn't have to go to visit her aunt in London and stay to protect Paris in case an Akuma attacks and also because the animators haven't had time to render the city of London yet for the next Miraculous World special. Like all of her other excuses, it fails, and Tikki, as always, fails to actually give any meaningful advice.

And it's not like there's a Miraculous with the power of teleportation that can help Marinette get back to Paris if she needs to, much like how she planned to do that in an earlier episode, right?

Seriously, Kaalki doesn't appear or isn't even mentioned in this episode because the writers are fully aware she would make things a lot easier.

And of course, Astruc had to play dumb on Twitter while explaining why Marinette couldn't use the Horse Miraculous by answering the question as if the only reason Marinette couldn't grab it was because she didn't have an excuse not to.

Cut to Gabriel in his lair as he contemplates akumatizing Markov, a robot created the civilian identity of Pegasus, Max Kante, once again, even though the last time he did so, he almost got killed when he went all HAL 9000 on his ass. Nooroo explains this to Duusu, and the two actually get excited at the prospect of their master getting killed.

I mean, it's true, but he shouldn't say it...

But I don't even get why Gabriel is even thinking about this when it's a no-brainer. Markov's akumatized form, Robustus was to this day, the only Akuma to come close to physically harming him (not counting the timeline where he was killed by Cat Blanc), so it makes no sense to try doing it again, especially when there are already several other Akumas he can reuse this season.

I think you all know Gabriel isn't the smartest villain, which is why he thinks it's a brilliant idea to akumatize Markov again. I don't really get what makes Robustus so special when there are other Akumas who are more loyal and came far closer to getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous than Robustus did, like the Dark Owl or Troublemaker. In fact, why not simply create a new Akuma with similar powers to Robustus, or better yet, just create a Sentimonster copy of Robustus? You know, like what Nathalie did in the New York Special? We're not even two minutes in, and this premise is already filled with plotholes.

So Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster using his own cane instead of relying on someone else having a bad day (once again showing how the Peacock Miraculous is better than the Butterfly), the titular Hack-San. And let's just say he has a very familiar design reminiscent of something from a much better French cartoon.

Remember when the writers for Code Lyoko gave an in-universe explanation as to why the heroes couldn’t always rely on the almost literal Deus ex Machina that allowed them to return to the past and fix the damage XANA caused? Why couldn’t this show have ripped that off instead?

Hack-San is just an okay looking flash drive on its own, but I'll talk more about this guy in a little bit.

After a brief scene in the park where the audience is reminded that Markov is a character who exists, Alya gets a text from Marinette telling her to meet her at the train station. Right before she leaves, Marinette gives the Ladybug Miraculous to Alya. Now a lot people have said that Alya doesn't really deserve the Ladybug for various reasons, but I feel like this was the point. Marinette outright says this was a last resort, and we see both her and Alya are nervous about the situation. Marinette worries Alya will do something so she keeps sending multiple tips to her via text while Alya worries she can't fight an Akuma on her own, so she tries to make sure none of her friends get upset and attract an Akuma in the process. The writers do a pretty good job showing how both Marinette and Alya are uncomfortable with their temporary roles.

Back to Gabriel and Nathalie, they use Hack-San to find Markov through the internet and hack into him to get him angry enough that he's vulnerable to Shadowmoth's influence. Hey, uh... Gabriel? Quick question: Wouldn't it be more efficient if you used this on humans? I mean, you basically just created Skynet and guaranteed yourself an Akuma, so why not modify Hack-San to travel through the internet and brainwash potential victims to follow your orders? Better yet, why don't you just use Hack-San to hack into Ladybug and Cat Noir's gear and figure out who they really are? This is basically like using an advanced particle accelerator just to crack a couple walnuts. There are a lot more important things you could use this for instead of an incredibly specific situation.

So this incredibly stupid plan gets under way as Markov keeps rampaging through the streets before Shadowmoth akumatizes him and then stupidly tells him that he infected him with a virus.

DUDE! You just gave away your one piece of leverage against him! What the hell were you thinking?! Now what's stopping Markov from hacking into Shadowmoth's security system and putting the fear of God in his eyes unless he destroys Hack-San? Why didn't he design Hack-San so it could make Markov completely loyal to him instead of just making him angry enough to get akumatized?

There was a recent episode of Power Rangers: Dino Fury with a very similar premise that was done far better than this. A necromancer called Reaghoul breaks into the headquarters of Void Knight's faction while accompanied by Lord Zedd, a villain from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers who was cleansed of his evil by Zordon's sacrifice before Reaghoul resurrected him back when he was still evil. Of course, being the Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd would normally never take orders from anyone, but because he doesn't have his magic staff and is also being forced to wear a special collar that makes him loyal to Reaghoul, he has no choice but to do what he says. Instead of taking Zedd head-on after he captures the other Rangers, Ollie, the Blue Ranger, breaks the collar so Zedd turns against the other Sporix while Reaghoul retreats, allowing Ollie to save the other Rangers.

I think that this premise works more because 1) Reaghoul clearly had a way to make sure Zedd wouldn't betray him, and Ollie took advantage of that, and 2) Zedd is a villain who is powerful and notorious enough to bring back to your side, not a random monster of the week like Robostus.

So Robostus uses his new powers to brainwash any human who answers his call to give up their most precious possession, clearly meant to do the same with Ladybug and Cat Noir. When Marinette's parents answer the call, they chase after Marinette because they say she's their most important possession. Okay... kind of strange for a set of parents to call their child a possession, but maybe they like how they can claim Marinette as a dependent when they file their taxes. In her very next scene later on, she still gets captured, so the suspense for a potential subplot is killed almost immediately.

Alya thankfully isn't stupid enough to answer Markov's call like every other citizen in this episode, and using the Ladybug Miraculous, transforms into Scarabella. While I don't normally talk about transformation sequences, I really like the movements Alya makes here. She makes the same motions creating her mask as she does when transforming into Rena Rouge, while the rest of the suit forms similarly to the way it does when Marinette transforms into Ladybug. She even makes almost the same pose Ladybug does after she finishes transforming. It's a good visual showing Alya is still more used to being Rena Rouge while doing her best to emulate what Ladybug does.

As for the actual suit? It's hard to say. There's a nice balance of red and black, and I like how Alya places the yo-yo on her waist like a belt buckle, but there's just something... off about the suit that a lot of fans don't like about it, and I think I realized it. It's the headband. With how it's positioned, it looks like it's merged with the mask to cover her head while leaving a slight gap in her forehead. So yeah, we actually have a superhero design that's like of like a butterface.

So Scarabella takes to the rooftops of Paris and struggles to come up with a hero name for herself before she runs into Cat Noir, and... ugh... oh boy, this is dumb. Cat Noir, being just as intelligent as his father, assumes Scarabella is either and Akuma or a Sentimonster, starts fighting her, AND THEN ACTIVATES HIS CATACLYSM, CLEARLY TRYING TO KILL HER.

WHAT. THE. FUCK???

Okay, to be fair, it has been shown that Cataclysm won't necessarily kill a Miraculous user or Sentimonster. In the episode “Miraculer”, the titular Akuma stole Cat Noir's Cataclysm and used it against him, and while it didn't kill Cat Noir, it still hurt like hell and crippled him for the rest of the fight until Miraculous Ladybug healed him. We also saw in “Reflekdoll” that Cataclysm drove the titular Sentimonster out of control rather than simply destroying it. So yes, it could be interpreted that Cat Noir wasn't exactly trying to kill Scarabella, just incapacitate her the best he can without Ladybug's help.

Here's the thing: What if he was facing an Akuma instead and decided to try and Cataclysm her? He still could have killed her, or (assuming Akumas have the same protection as Miraculous heroes do) at best, seriously hurt her. I understand that he has the right to be upset at seeing some stranger instead of his partner considering Shadowmoth has a history of using evil doppelgangers, and both Marinette and Alya still had options to explain it to him (Marinette could have quickly transformed into Ladybug and sent Cat Noir a quick text saying she was being forced to leave town for a few days and temporarily trusted someone else with the Ladybug Miraculous until she got back, while Scarabella could have said she was Rena Rouge and explained the same thing while showing Cat Noir she had the Fox Miraculous to prove herself), but that doesn't even come close to justifying him attempting to harm someone who isn't even trying to fight. It's even worse when you remember the whole reason Adrien gave up his Miraculous and bailed on Ladybug in the New York Special was because he was overcome with grief from accidentally killing Aeon, so it's good to know he learned absolutely nothing from that experience.

So Scarabella thankfully summons her Lucky Charm, a trash can lid, to shield herself from Cat Noir's Cataclysm, and then despite having absolutely no experience with this new set of powers, manages to do the one thing almost every Akuma or Sentimonster in this show has failed to do and incapacitates Cat Noir so he's vulnerable to losing his Miraculous. At least when Marinette masters every other Miraculous she uses, it can be theorized that she trained to use them offscreen. Alya literally just got the Ladybug Miraculous (and struggled to get up to the rooftop with her yo-yo to show her inexperience earlier), and now she easily manages to pin down the more experienced hero of the two?

Here's an idea: Instead of having Scarabella overpower Cat Noir, have her be in a position where Cat Noir, non-lethally, mind you, manages to almost take her Miraculous away, but she uses the quick wit she's developed from her extensive time as Rena Rouge to convince Cat Noir she's the real deal by saying something only he and Ladybug know. It would have easily resolved the conflict and doesn't make one of the characters look like a homicidal idiot.

So because both heroes used their powers, Scarabella and Cat Noir detransform so Tikki and Plagg can recharge, though Adrien still gives Alya attitude because Ladybug didn't tell him she had to leave.

Hey, Adrien? Here's the thing...

YOU DID THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THING IN THE NEW YORK SPECIAL, YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS!

You have absolutely NO RIGHT to claim you're always honest when you went behind Ladybug's back and endangered Paris while you had the balls to run away like a coward and only helped fix the consequences of your actions once your ego was validated by a recording of Ladybug. It's honestly even worse because while Marinette had no choice but to leave and trust Alya with the Ladybug, Adrien willingly left Paris alone and we were supposed to sympathize with him after he killed someone, and now as soon as he's in the opposite situation, we're still supposed to feel bad for him?! BULLSHIT! And you better believe I'm going to talk about the way Adrien views his partnership with Ladybug later on.

And of course, even though lives are on the line, Cat Noir just has to continue to bitch and moan about how (and this is best read in Linkara's whiny Superboy Prime voice) “sCaRaBeLlA iSn'T tHe ReAl LaDyBuG”, showing how just like in so many episodes, Astruc and his team believes Cat Noir's feelings are more important than saving the day.

Scarabella goes to rescue some civilians, but they were actually brainwashed by Robustus, once again showing her inexperience as Ladybug which doesn't go well with her effortlessly defeating Cat Noir earlier at all. Cat Noir helps Scarabella escape and the two hide out at the city's wax statue museum previously featured in “The Puppeteer 2”, because I guess the writers only want to reference bad episodes today. Cat Noir, not getting the importance of secret identities, asks Scarabella how she knows Ladybug, and Cat Noir somehow finds out she knows Ladybug's identity from her response.

Before the two can talk more, it turns out that the wax statues of celebrities in the museum are real people who attack the two heroes, leading to an awkward fight scene where Scarabella and Cat Noir fight a bunch of brainwashed civilians with no weapons beyond their cellphones. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!

Scarabella summons her Lucky Charm again, creating a frying pan, but when she looks around, she can't see how to properly use it. And despite spending the entire episode complaining about how much he hates her, it's Cat Noir that tells Scarabella to get her head back in the game because “That's what Ladybug would do”. Funny, I can think of a few situations where Cat Noir could have taken his own advice, but I digress. Also, he's now just cool with Scarabella because there's only a few minutes left in the episode and we need to wrap up the conflict.

Scarabella figures out an idea that involves freeing Marinette, so she negotiates with Robostus to free everything and everyone under his control or else Cat Noir will use his Cataclysm to destroy the Ladybug Miraculous. Robostus agrees and empties his hard drive, and to show them holding up her end of the bargain, Scarabella gives him the frying pan before she and Cat Noir let themselves be captured... while Marinette simply hits Robostus with the frying pan, freeing the Akuma and the two heroes. All in all, it's a really creative climax that shows both Scarabella and Marinette in perfect sync with each other even though they never discussed their plan. Though of course, because Astruc hates writing any scene with Ladynoir, Cat Noir gets a bucket stuck on his head so he doesn't see Marinette saving the day.

Scarabella de-evilizes Robostus, uses Miraculous Scarabella to fix everything and send Marinette back to the train, and because Hack-San already failed once, Shadowmoth can't use it for a different plan so he destroys the Sentimonster.

We cut to a few days after the trip (I guess Shadowmoth decided to take a vacation himself), and Alya tells Marinette to talk with Cat Noir about what happened.

This scene was so close to ending this episode off on a positive note. There was a good atmosphere and the body language of Ladybug and Cat Noir does a good job at telling us how uncomfortable they both feel while talking. It's just that instead of getting a heart to heart between the two about the lack of trust in their relationship, we get an Angstdrien Depreste scene. Or would a more accurate term be Cat Dour?

First off, while I don't have a problem with Ladybug apologizing for not telling Cat Noir, the episode never has him bring up what happened with Scarabella. As usual, both of them were partially at fault, but only Ladybug had to apologize for leaving her “Kitty” alone.

Second, Cat Noir’s feelings weren’t hurt? You’re telling me that in scenes like this...

And this...

Didn’t show Adrien acting irrationally because of how emotional he was? Is he really telling the truth around Ladybug or is he just trying to sweep that under the rug so Scarabella’s testimony doesn’t screw up his chances with Ladybug?

Third, this was an obvious chance to Cat Noir to finally be honest and tell Ladybug how he feels about her leaving him in the dark about so many things, but the entire conversation is just about how sad he would be if he never sees Ladybug again. Even though the whole reason he was so pissy to Scarabella at first was because of some lingering resentment for Ladybug ignoring him in favor of other heroes, why is this what the two talk about? I get it's not the season finale, but it's kind of hypocritical for Cat Noir to whine about how Ladybug doesn't trust him while never being honest about his own feelings? Sure, he's all soft and vulnerable around Ladybug, but we've seen all season how angry he gets about her not trusting him whenever she isn't around, so ironically, it's hard to tell if this is him being honest or not.

And I think now's a good time to finally talk about the way Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership has been portrayed all season, especially since the main themes of the episodes relate to it. Buckle up, Adrien stans, because this isn't going to be pretty.

All season, we have been supposed to sympathize with Adrien as Marinette starts to trust Alya with more things than him. Marinette revealed her identity to her, trusted her to have her Miraculous permanently, and even let her keep her Miraculous even though someone else knew her identity. While some of it is hypocritical, the idea is that Adrien feels like he can be trusted with this kind of knowledge too, when really, he hasn't earned that responsibility.

Adrien has rarely, if ever, taken his job as a superhero seriously.

Not only is he known to flirt with Ladybug in the middle of a fight, he has defied her orders and recklessly sacrificed himself because he thinks Ladybug can do all the work without him.

He has also lashed out emotionally and once threatened to quit being Cat Noir in the middle of a crisis and was willing to let innocent people suffer for personal reasons, and later on actually quit being Cat Noir temporarily while Hawkmoth was about to start World War III because he was wallowing in self-pity.

He once said he isn't cut out for the responsibility that comes with being Ladybug and never learned anything from temporarily using the Ladybug Miraculous.

He has generally refused to respect Ladybug's boundaries and doesn't understand that she doesn't like him that way while he insists they should be a couple.

He outright fell for an evil doppelganger of Ladybug because she said she loved him and turned against the real Ladybug.

And I should also mention that despite hating how Ladybug keeps secrets from him, a lot of Adrien's worst moments have been when Ladybug wasn't around and he never told her about them.

He never told Ladybug that he was the reason Copycat really got akumatized while saying he never lies to her.

He never told Ladybug he contemplated letting thousands of people die because he didn't like not knowing stuff Ladybug knew.

He never told Ladybug he briefly used the Snake Miraculous to get brownie points with her.

He never told Ladybug he figured out her identity and asked her out as soon as he did so.

He never told Ladybug he abandoned Paris to go on a field trip.

He never told Ladybug he was screwing around on patrol and was excited to see someone get akuamtized if it meant spending time with her.

He never told Ladybug how he ignored Rena Rouge's orders because “ShE wAsN't LaDyBuG” and almost screwed up the mission because of it, and also never told her how he smashed a chimney in anger at Rena Rouge being in on the plan.

And he never told Ladybug he gave her replacement attitude after trying to harm her without letting her explain herself.

Why exactly should I support the idea of Ladybug trusting Cat Noir more when Cat Noir himself has kept his own secrets from Ladybug?

Adrien has done absolutely nothing to show he is trustworthy because more often than not, he views the battle with Shadowmoth as a game. He has screwed around when lives were on the line, and we're supposed to see him as responsible? It's kind of funny that Astruc compared Ladybug to Spider-Man, yet he seems to have forgotten that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. If this was a character flaw or a sign he needed to grow up, I'd be more accepting, but the fact that the writers think Adrien is a great superhero is laughable with how much evidence has proved the contrary.

In contrast, Alya, despite only being Marinette's confidant for a few episodes, has shown to take being a hero more seriously. She's helped her escape to transform, analyze the Guardian texts, and has been shown to work well on her own as Rena Rouge while helping out Marinette. I'm not trying to say she's an amazing character (“Rocketear” in particular has shown she still has problems with keeping secrets), but compared to Adrien, she seems to be more capable of handling top-secret information with Marinette, and more importantly, doesn't view being Rena Rouge as a way to have fun like Adrien does being Cat Noir. I'll go more into detail with that next time.

But yeah, this scene is how the episode ends, and what did I think of it?

I'm honestly not sure which episode I think is worse, this one or “Queen Banana”. On the one hand, every frame of “Queen Banana” could easily be replaced by an image of Astruc flipping the bird and the overall message of the episode would remain unchanged, but the fact that all of the writers think that everything Adrien does in this episode is okay and that we should feel sorry for him in this episode is just as bad, if not worse. 

As awful as Chloe was portrayed in “Queen Banana”, it was clear it was intentional on the writers' part, but Adrien doesn't get that excuse once much like he has all season. As far as Astruc's team thinks, Adrien is an incredible superhero even when he honestly attempted to harm someone with a superpower that can cause grievous harm at best. Yet again this season, in the show's attempt to make me feel sorry for Adrien, it made him look even worse. In any other show, he would obviously be called out for his incredibly unheroic actions.

Even putting him aside, the writing in this episode is still AWFUL. The whole reason Ladybug was benched had several plotholes and poor communication with Cat Noir that only made the fight with Robostus even harder, Shadowmoth's plan to waste a potentially useful Sentimonster to reuse a single Akuma was one of the dumbest plans he's ever had, and barring the ending, the action was just forgettable.

There were a few okay moments sprinkled throughout the episode (more than I can say for “Queen Banana”), so I'm still not sure if I should call this the worst episode of the show or still give that honor to “Queen Banana”. I guess I'll leave that choice up to you and let you pick your poison for now.

I mean, it's not like there's going to be an even worse episode down the line this season, right?

RIGHT???

[purrincess-chat]

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Spite Playlist: Remix CH21

We’ve done it! We’re caught up to AO3! As such, I will be taking the next month off from posting to get AO3 updated and take a short break. I will resume posting on AO3 first, then tumblr right after starting on July 2, 2021! Can’t wait for you all to see the rest of this story! I have a lot of changes coming.

Previous    First    Next      AO3

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Chapter 21: Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince

The next morning, Adrien’s stomach churned on the way to school. Chloe sat beside him adjusting her makeup while Gorilla was stopped at a red light. Everyone would know about their interview now. He expected backlash, but not like this. Pulling out his phone, he opened the article again.

Ladybug’s #1 Fan Deletes Blog After Scathing Final Video

“It’s like I don’t even know who she is anymore. I thought she was this amazing, genuine person, but in reality, she doesn’t care about any of us,” Alya said in the clip.

“Sources speculate this video was posted in response to the interview Ladybug did prior yesterday afternoon with the daughter of Paris’s own Mayor Bourgeois and the son of famous fashion mogul, Gabriel Agreste. In the interview, Ladybug denounced clout-chasers using her name to get attention, stating that such actions are “dangerous” and “need to stop.” The blogger behind the popular Ladyblog seemed to find fault with these comments and was akumatized shortly after the interview. It seems that bad blood has brewed between the blogger and the heroine even after the day was saved. The Ladyblogger posted one final video lashing out at the superheroine before deleting her blog altogether.”

“Ugh, stop reading that. Who cares?” Chloe groaned, swiping Adrien’s phone from his hands. “That brat doesn’t have brain cells if she believes a nobody like Lila over a superhero.”

“Alya devoted a lot of time to that blog, and she really looked up to Ladybug. She’s probably crushed right now,” Adrien said.

Chloe rolled her eyes and pulled out her lip gloss. “So let her be. She did this to herself by siding with that wannabe. If any of these losers have a brain, then Lila’s going to be finished today. I’ll be shocked if she’s even here.”

“Uh, I think we have other things to worry about.” Adrien pointed to the crowd waiting at the bottom of the stairs as their car rolled up to the curb. Their classmates had formed a wall between them and the inside of the school like a group of knights defending their queen. Lila was waiting safely inside, no doubt. She never liked getting her hands dirty unless she had to.

“You don’t think she’ll get away with this and make everyone hate us, do you?” Adrien asked.

“Everyone already hates me, Adrikins. I have nothing to lose.” Chloe snapped her compact shut and dropped it into her purse. “But it looks like we’ll have to finish the job ourselves. I’m going to need a spa day after working so hard.”

A pit tangled in Adrien’s stomach as they climbed from the car, the angry expressions of their classmates sending a chill up his spine. When they’d done the interview, Adrien expected everyone to be mad at Lila, not him. How did she weasel her way out of this one?

“Oh, look who decided to show up,” Alya said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Where’s your bff Ladybug?”

“She’s got better things to do than worry about you losers,” Chloe said without missing a beat, completely undeterred by the mob in front of them. “Now, move, you’re blocking the stairs.”

“Ya know, I’ve always known you were evil, but this is really low, even for you.” Alya shook her head.

“Yeah! Tricking Ladybug is way uncool, Chloe,” Nino said.

“Yeah!” Several classmates echoed their agreement.

“Ladybug spoke the honest truth. All I did was ask the questions.” Chloe examined her nails.

“Stop pretending to be innocent. I overheard you and Adrien plotting to trick Ladybug into saying incriminating things about Lila, so don’t even lie to us.” Alya shot Adrien a glare that cut through his chest like a knife. “And what do you have to say for yourself? Teaming up with the wicked witch. We all thought you denounced Chloe’s actions, but I guess the silver spoon doesn’t fall far from the table.”

“Ugh, she’s delusional. Come on, Adrikins.” Chloe tugged his arm, but he remained rooted in place.

“No, she’s right. Chloe and I did conspire to trick Ladybug into admitting she and Lila were never friends,” Adrien said, and Chloe shot him a warning glare. “But that’s not actually what happened.”

“Really? So you two didn’t do a live interview where Ladybug said she doesn’t have any non-superhero friends?” Alya quirked a brow.

“Chloe and I originally planned to trick Ladybug, yes, but I didn’t feel right about it, so before the interview, I told Ladybug the truth. She went into that interviewing knowing what we were going to ask her, and she agreed,” Adrien said.

“What?” Chloe gasped.

“What Ladybug said was her choice. Lila’s lies have gotten out of hand, and she knows that better than anyone,” Adrien said.

“Why should we believe you?” Nathaniel grunted. “You teamed up with Chloe, so obviously you’re not the innocent sunshine boy everyone thinks you are.”

“Yeah, Chloe’s the worst!” Sabrina shouted, and Chloe’s gaze locked on her.

“How dare you! You’re not allowed to side with those losers. Get over here!” Chloe demanded, but Alya draped an arm around Sabrina’s shoulders.

“She’s done putting up with your crud, Chloe. We all are,” Alya said. “Lila hasn’t done anything to deserve all the hate from you or Marinette or Ladybug or anybody!”

“So, you losers are really going to believe some random girl who walked in off the street and started telling all of these amazing stories without evidence to back them up over a superhero?” Chloe cocked a hip. “You’re all more pathetic than I thought.”

“You’re the pathetic one! You two and Marinette have been plotting against Lila for weeks, haven’t you?” Alya shot back.

“Whoa, Marinette has nothing to do with any of this,” Adrien said. “This was all me and Chloe.”

“I heard you two talking. You said you were doing it for Marinette, or did I hear you incorrectly?” Alya challenged.

Adrien sighed. “No, we did say that, and I did do it for Marinette.”

“Ha!”

“But not because she told me to.” Adrien took a deep breath and turned to his classmates. “All of you, don’t you miss Marinette? Rose, don’t you miss when she would bring you extra fabric for your scrapbook projects? And Nathaniel, don’t you miss when she’d offer suggestions for your comic books?”

When they remained quiet, he continued, “Marinette left this school feeling hurt and empty. She felt like all of her friends turned their backs on her for a new girl. She poured her heart and soul into everything she did here, and Lila drove her away. Marinette knew the truth, so Lila threatened to take everything away from her. And she did which is why I teamed up with Chloe to stop her. Marinette doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. Not after everything she’s done.”

Everyone was quiet. Even Alya’s resolve seemed shaken, but she squared her shoulders.

“I can’t believe you when you’re standing next to her.” She nodded at Chloe.

Kim pursed his lips, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I dunno, it doesn’t make sense. Marinette would never do something like that. Adrien can be protective of people he cares about, but that doesn’t make him a bad guy.”

“Yeah, Marinette is like the nicest person in the world. She’d never go against someone without a reason, especially if it involves teaming up with Chloe,” Alix agreed.

“And Marinette was always looking out for everyone before Lila showed up,” Ivan said.

They moved to stand beside Adrien, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Well, I’m not siding with Chloe, even if Marinette was nice to me sometimes.” Nathaniel crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, I’m done being your bff. You’ll have to get someone else to do your homework from now on,” Sabrina said with a humph.

Myléne flicked her gaze between the forming groups, curling her shoulders. “Sorry, but they’re right. Chloe is always being mean. I don’t really think Marinette is involved, but this seems very typical for Chloe.”

Max tapped his chin with one finger. “It’s true that this type of behavior is very typical of Chloe, but senseless cruelty is atypical of Adrien. However, acting in defense of a dear friend is a trait Adrien and Marinette have demonstrated on numerous occasions, and Lila’s stories can be outlandish at times. Then there’s the issue of the interview with Ladybu-”

“Oh, just pick a side!” Chloe groaned.

“I-” Max glanced between his friends. “I am choosing to abstain from taking sides until I have further evidence. Both Lila and Marinette are my friends.”

“Ugh, whatever. What about you two?” Chloe turned to Juleka and Rose.

Juleka mumbled something no one understood but moved to stand by Alix. Rose cupped a hand over her mouth, shifting between Alya and Adrien.

“Rose?” Adrien prompted.

Her shoulders curled, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “I don’t want to pick! I don’t want anyone to fight anymore.” She covered her face with a whimper, and Nino placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s gonna be alright,” he said.

“Nino?” Adrien asked hopefully, but his best bud lowered his head, red cap covering his eyes.

“Sorry, bro. I know you and Chloe have always been tight, but that doesn’t mean she and I have to be,” Nino said, taking a purposeful step toward Alya.

“Well, looks like more people are on my side than yours.” Chloe gloated.

“Hold up,” Alix said. “No one on this side picked you. We just believe Marinette is innocent, and Adrien was acting to protect her.”

“Yeah, you’re still the worst. We’re on Marinette’s team,” Ivan added. Chloe scowled but didn’t argue further.

A cold anger burned behind Alya’s eyes, the hurt she was feeling bubbling just beneath the surface. Adrien shivered. This wasn’t what he wanted when they did the interview. He wanted everyone to be free from Lila’s influence, especially Alya, but Lila’s hooks were in too deep. He never should have let things get this bad. If he’d acted sooner, then Marinette never would have left. Their classmates would be free, and no one would have to feel torn.

When the bell rang, their classmates dispersed, filing into the school one-by-one. Chloe fell into step beside Adrien.

“Now what?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I need time to forget about the fact that I’m Team Marinette.” Chloe shuddered.

“We’ve got enough people who at least believe Marinette is innocent, but we can’t get too cocky. That’s not the same thing as believing Lila is guilty,” Adrien said.

“We’ll figure something out. We just need time and a little precision,” Chloe said.

Adrien gulped, gripping the strap on his bag tighter. For their sake, he hoped they thought of something soon.

♪♫♪ Learn to Let Go ♪♫♪

“Take a deep breath in,” Macy said.

Marinette sat cross-legged on a bright blue yoga mat. Sunlight streaming in from the skylights warmed Marinette’s bare shoulders while soothing music played softly in the background. After the past few days, Marinette’s anxiety was at an all-time high, so a meditation session was in order. She followed Macy’s instructions, but it did little to relax her.

“Now, breathe out all of that negative energy. Let it all leave your body,” Macy continued. “Think of all the things in your life that make you happy and push out the things that don’t.”

Marinette took another breath, but the events of the last two days flashed vividly in her mind. The interview, Ladyblogger, the hurt look in Alya’s eyes when Ladybug captured her akuma, the video… Marinette breathed out.

Alya deleted the Ladyblog. Lila had done the impossible and turned Ladybug’s biggest fan into one of her biggest detractors. Granted, Ladybug might have helped by replacing Rena Rouge, but what was Marinette supposed to do? Working with Alya wasn’t an option after everything—it would have been too painful. Even still, Marinette would be lying if she said watching Alya lose faith in Ladybug didn’t rip another hole in her chest. Despite ending their friendship, Marinette still wished Alya the best, even if she was running with Lila.

“You’re not letting go of the negative energy,” Macy said.

Marinette blinked her eyes open and sighed, letting her posture fall. “Sorry, it’s been a rough few days.”

Macy turned to face Marinette with a smile. “Why don’t we talk about it instead? Maybe it will help if you get it all off your chest.”

“Maybe…” Marinette picked at a loose thread on her pants. She shifted to face Macy, chest tight. “It’s just…my old school. When I left, I didn’t want to look back, but it feels like no matter what I do, I can’t leave it behind.”

“Well, you had a lot of friends at your old school, right? It’s not easy to walk away from people you care about,” Macy said. “Especially when you know someone is using them.”

“I guess.” Marinette hugged her knees to her chest. “I thought I’d been gone long enough to not care anymore, but when Alya got akumatized, I just felt so sad.”

“Of course, you did! She was your best friend.” Macy pulled the tea table closer and prepared a cup. “It’s not easy to see someone you love in that much pain. You’re not a robot, Marinette. It’s okay to care.”

Macy pushed a cup toward her, but when she made no move to accept it, Macy changed the subject. “What about Adrien? Have you heard from him?”

Marinette flicked her gaze to her phone and shook her head. “No. Not since yesterday. I think he’s avoiding me.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I dunno.” Marinette shrugged. “He’s been texting me all the time lately, but now all of a sudden, he just stopped.”

“Boys are flaky like that sometimes. Give him time. I’m sure he’ll come around,” Macy assured her.

“I know, and I know it’s probably because of the interview he did with Ladybug.” Marinette sighed. “He probably thinks I’m mad at him.”

“How do you know?” Macy asked.

Marinette shifted to tuck her legs under the table and pulled her cup closer. She stared at her reflection in the tea and shrugged. “Because I thought the same thing when I changed schools behind his back. I thought he’d be disappointed.”

“Was he?” Macy asked.

“No, but I didn’t know that until he talked to me.” Marinette took a long sip. “I just feel bad that he did all of that for me. He shouldn’t have to deal with my problems.”

Macy surveyed her with a frown. “That’s something I’ve noticed about you, ya know,” she said thoughtfully. “You’re quick to shoulder everyone’s burdens when you think they need help, but you never expect anyone to do it for you.”

“I just want to be there for my friends, that’s all.” Marinette deflected as if it were no big deal, but Macy shot her a chiding look.

“Marinette, that’s very noble and sweet, but the same is true for you, ya know,” Macy said. “Everyone else’s burdens aren’t yours to bear. You’re going to break your back carrying so much weight around.” When Marinette remained quiet, Macy sighed. “Well, then I guess I have no choice.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette blinked up at her.

“If you’re running head-first into everyone’s problems, then I’m coming too,” Macy said. “I’m not going to let you do it all alone, and I don’t think Martin and Eliott will either. Adrien certainly isn’t.”

“But-”

“Marinette!” Macy threw her head back with a groan. “What I’m trying to say is… Your friends have your back, okay? So don’t worry about anything. We’re right behind you all the way.”

Macy’s smile was soft and genuine, and Marinette shivered, the fear and uncertainty floating to the surface. She leaned against Macy’s chest as fresh tears streamed down her cheeks, and her friend patted her hair, whispering encouragement while Marinette sobbed. The dull ache that had plagued her all month lightened as each tear carried away her pain.

Macy didn’t let go until her whimpers quieted, and when Marinette sat up, the weight on her shoulders felt lighter. She took a deep breath and exhaled all of her worry just like Macy said. Even if she didn’t have her old friends anymore, she had new ones, and she had to admit—they were pretty hard to beat.

♪♫♪ Daylight ♪♫♪

Adrien faced his mother’s statue in the garden with a sigh. Things were messier now than they had been a few days ago, and he didn’t know what to do anymore. No matter what they threw at Lila, she always managed to wiggle out of it. Would they ever be rid of Lila Rossi? At least some of their classmates still believed in Marinette. She’d be happy to hear that she didn’t lose everyone at Francoise-Dupont.

He flicked his gaze down to his phone with a sigh. They hadn’t spoken since before the interview. Adrien couldn’t bring himself to after everything that happened with Alya. She was bound to know the truth now—that he’d teamed up with Chloe to stop Lila, despite how she’d refused. How much more pain had he caused her by trying to fix her problems? He was afraid to know. He’d betrayed her wishes, but hopefully she’d understand that his heart was in the right place. She was all his heart ever talked about these days. Avoiding her was agony, and his heart ached every time he looked at his phone.

“I don’t know what to do, Mom,” he murmured. He shifted to press his back to the statue, resting his cheek against her lap. “No matter how hard I try, it’s never enough. Sometimes I wish you were still here to tell me everything will be alright.”

He closed his eyes, listening to the birds chirping and the hum of the city beyond the walls. When had life gotten so complicated? He longed for freedom for so long, but he never imagined what it would cost. The pain he would endure. But he’d take this pain over isolation. He never wanted to be locked up again. One day he’d be free from his father’s control, then he and Marinette could be together whenever they wanted. One day���

“Adrien?”

He sat up, cheek sore from resting against the stone. When had he fallen asleep? Red and black spots filled his vision, awakening his heart with a jolt.

“Ladybug?” He blinked, rubbing his eyes as if expecting her to be a dream.

“Sorry, I was just passing overhead, and I saw you sitting down here. I didn’t mean to intrude,” she said.

“No, no, it’s fine,” he insisted. “Stay. I could use the company.”

“That makes two of us,” she said, taking a seat beside him with a sigh. “We really made a mess of things.”

“Yeah…” Adrien rested his chin on his fist. “I don’t know how she gets away with it every time.”

Ladybug leaned her head back with a sigh. “Lila is crafty. She targeted Alya specifically because she knew she’d be her most powerful ally.”

“I just feel so bad. I was hoping we could finally make everyone see the truth, but it looks like we just made things worse. Marinette was right, I shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he said, “but I couldn’t help it. Not after everything Lila has done to her.”

“You really care about this girl, don’t you?” Ladybug smiled.

His cheeks warmed, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, more than anything. But I feel like all I ever do is cause her trouble. She’s probably furious with me.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ladybug said. “From what I know of her, a gesture like that would mean the world to her, and I’ll bet she’s not as angry as you think.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because you wouldn’t go out of your way to help her if you didn’t share a special bond. You’re probably just as important to her as she is to you,” Ladybug said. “Talk to her. I think it will make you both feel better.”

Adrien pulled up his messages, thumb hovering over her name. Ladybug was right. The longer he avoided her, the longer they’d both feel this pain. Marinette would understand. He loved her, and he believed that she loved him too. Everything would be alright in the end so long as they had each other.

“Thanks, Ladybug,” he murmured.

“I’ll leave you alone now.” She palmed her yoyo but hesitated, turning over her shoulder. “That girl is really lucky to have someone like you watching over her.”

With a flick of her wrist, she tossed her yoyo and shot off into the rooftops. Adrien drummed his fingers on his thigh, then stood up and headed into the house. Gorilla was playing a game on his tablet in the foyer when Adrien found him.

“There’s somewhere I need to go.”

♪♫♪ Death of a Bachelor ♪♫♪

Marinette hummed to herself while waiting for the kettle to boil. She stole glances at her phone, but it stayed quiet. Maybe he was just trying to figure out what to say. He was bound to call sooner or later.

When the doorbell rang, her heart jumped up to her throat. She raced to the front door, hoping her clumsy footsteps didn’t betray her eagerness. Taking a composing breath, she opened the door.

His head was low, one hand shoved in his pocket, and he looked up at her through timid eyelashes. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, his fear written all over his face. Marinette smiled, gesturing him inside, but he remained rooted in place.

“Marinette, I-”

“I know,” she said.

“You’re not mad?” he asked.

“Adrien,” Marinette sighed, giving him a gentle, scolding look. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You are the sweetest boy I know. How could I ever be mad at you?”

Adrien stood stiffly in silence before his shoulders began to shake. He gripped fistfuls of her shirt, wetting her shoulder and nuzzling into her neck. Marinette held him, letting all of his worry wash between them like rain flowing down a roof. When clouds grew too heavy, they unloaded their burdens on everyone below, so Marinette stood under Adrien and let him rain.

“I’m sorry!” he cried. “I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay. I forgive you,” Marinette whispered, trailing her fingers through his soft hair. “I forgive you, Adrien.”

His sobs quieted, and he sat up, rubbing a hand across his red nose. The kettle on the stove screeched, and Marinette gestured him in again.

“Come on. I’ll make us some tea,” she said.

Adrien sat at the table, combing his fingers through his hair. She passed him a cup with a smile and took a seat beside him.

“I take it things didn’t go as planned with the interview?” Marinette asked.

“Not exactly,” Adrien grunted as if that were an understatement and took a sip. “Alya and some others still believe Lila is innocent, but there are a lot of us who think you are too.”

“Adrien.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have gotten involved.” He swirled his finger around the rim of the cup. “But I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing. You mean the world to me, Marinette.”

Marinette’s heart fluttered, and she took a sip to hide her blush. The chamomile wasn’t strong enough to calm her nerves when he said things like that to her. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to pass out.

Setting her cup down, she cupped his cheek, tilting his chin to face her. “Thank you for looking out for me. It’s really sweet, but you don’t have to solve all of my problems. Sometimes it’s okay to just let things go.”

“Yeah…” Adrien sighed.

“Promise me you won’t get involved anymore. Lila will dig her own grave eventually. It’s better if we just let it go and move on,” Marinette said.

Adrien leaned into her touch, pressing a soft kiss to her palm.

“I promise,” he murmured.

Her pulse quickened when those gorgeous green eyes softened on her. The air hung heavy around them, warming her skin from her cheeks to the very fingertips touching his skin. Goosebumps tickled the tiny hairs of her arms, Adrien’s magnetic pull drawing her in.

Marinette slipped her fingers behind his neck and tugged ever-so-gently. Adrien leaned forward, eyelids hooding. His lips parted, warm breath swirling against her own. Marinette closed her eyes, tilting her head to finally give respite to the tension that had been building between them for weeks.

But relief never came.

Her father threw open the front door, and the sparks between them crackled. They jolted away from each other, clumsily grasping for their cups as her dad waltzed in with a fresh loaf of bread. He read the tension between them, and undoubtedly, noticed their rosy cheeks.

“Am I interrupting something?” His eyes narrowed.

“No, Papa!”

“No, sir. No way.” Adrien took a long sip and cleared his throat.

“Are you sure? I was just bringing up some fresh bread to go with dinner. I can leave if you two are-”

“Papa!” Marinette growled.

“Actually, I should get going. My father will want me home soon.” Adrien stood up. “Thanks for the tea.”

“Yeah, no biggie,” Marinette insisted.

Adrien hesitated, flicking a quick glance at her dad, then lifting her hand to his lips. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.”

He pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles before fleeing out the front door. Marinette sat back, letting out a ragged breath.

“I ruined a moment, didn’t I?” Her dad winced.

Marinette offered him a smile, jumping up to place a kiss on his cheek. “It’s not the first time.”

“Is everything alright?” Marinette’s mother came through the door. “I passed Adrien on the stairs, he was redder than the strawberries on the cake we baked for Manon’s birthday.”

“I interrupted a moment,” her dad confessed.

“They were having a moment?” her mom gasped excitedly.

“Maman!” Marinette groaned.

“My little girl’s growing up so fast. She’s already got her first boyfriend. Before we know it, they’ll be bringing their kids over for Sunday brunch.” Her dad rubbed the tears forming in his eyes.

Marinette covered her face, willing this all to be a dream, but alas, she couldn’t fly away.

“Do you think Adrien would ever take an interest in baking?” her dad asked, and Marinette let out a moan.

“I’m going to my room. Call me when dinner’s ready,” she said.

“Next time Adrien comes over, we promise not to interrupt!” her mom called as she made her way up the stairs.

“That’s enough!”

“Should we invite him to dinner?” her dad asked.

“Good night!”

Marinette slammed her trap door shut and flopped against it with a sigh. She’d almost kissed Adrien—again! And after confessing how important they were to each other. Did this mean they were dating? Neither of them said the l-word, but maybe sometime soon…

She covered her face and giggled. Her boyfriend Adrien. She could get used to that.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Missing - Part 4.1

Remember the something bad coming I mentioned before?

This is that.

Fencing practice the next day had been a bit more intense. Fortunately, Kagami had been a perfect opponent to go all out with. She seemed to notice his emotional state and reacted in kind. Which he appreciated, certainly. Adrien had needed to work off the stress and anxiety from the previous incident with Lila.

It hadn’t helped that Plagg had also been unusually agitated that morning. He wouldn’t say what was going on, but he had told Adrien that they needed to see Master Fu immediately.

Plagg...had never gotten like that. Adrien didn’t understand what was going on, but whatever it was, it seemed quite serious. So he had bit back any complaint about the early morning or his schedule and attempted to reach Master Fu by phone. Unfortunately, it had gone to voicemail after several rings, and they couldn’t be sure if it was that Fu had been asleep or otherwise occupied. While Adrien had offered to find time to go to Fu’s place that day once there was a break in his schedule, Plagg insisted that whatever was going on couldn’t wait, and had decided to go to the man’s home himself.

Adrien wasn’t about to refuse Plagg if he felt it was truly necessary to go, but he felt anxious without his kwami and he still wasn’t back yet. He only hoped that there wouldn’t be another akuma attack before he returned.

He hoped everything was okay…

But at least Kagami was there. Both to challenge him physically and to support him when he explained what happened afterwards.

“So you came clean to them?“ Kagami asked, seated on a bench in the locker room as she listened to Adrien talk about what had happened.

He nodded, coming back to the present and admittedly still somewhat shaken from the entire ordeal the day before. “They deserved to know.“

“And how did they take it?“ While he certainly warranted some reprimand for the poor decision he had made on the matter, he did not deserve to be ostracized or blamed for the mess. Lila’s actions were her own, and while each of them held responsibility for their part in falling for her manipulations and the weakness that allowed her to get as far as she did, ultimately Lila was the only one to blame for her actions. With everything so recent and still so raw, the last thing they needed to have happen was for someone else to be made a scapegoat, which was still a possibility now that Lila was no longer present to take the brunt of their anger. Kagami knew the class was made of generally kind souls, but people could do regretful things in anger.

She for one was not inclined to sit by and allow him to be made into the villain for a situation he was not fully responsible for, and her tightening grip on her foil was indicative of that.

“They weren’t happy with me. They still aren’t. And I don’t blame them, really.“ He admitted. He had been kicking himself ever since his initial talk with Nino for...a lot of reasons, really. Having friends really helped with getting insight and other perspectives. And helped him notice things he hadn’t before.

“But what it comes down to is that even if we knew or suspected that Lila wasn’t being honest, none of us truly realized the depths of just how manipulative she could be.” Not until it was all laid out for them at any rate.

“Even when she snuck into your house and sent out that picture?“ Kagami asked, keeping her voice level.

He winced at the memory of the cause of her akumatization. But still...

“That was rotten of her, and I warned her afterwards.” He took a breath, realizing that his school friends hadn’t been the only ones hurt because of this. This just served as another reminder of his failure to act. “I should have done more then. I’m sorry, Kagami.”

She frowned, not necessarily pleased, but not angry either. “What was the reasoning then?” She asked. Because even if she didn’t agree with it, she knew he at least had some view that led to the choice he made.

He winced. “Honestly, that was the sort of thing I would see of a more extreme fangirl. But lying to police to try and keep someone from getting help is a whole new level of low. And one I thought she actually would not stoop to.” He frowned, looking up at Kagami. “Does that make me foolish?”

“Yes.” She replied bluntly. “You at least knew that she was capable of underhanded things. And when you know a tiger’s stripes, you should know what to expect.”

He winced and looked away, guiltily. “I know. Or—I didn’t? I just...”

She decided to take pity on him.

“That said,” She added, drawing his attention back to her. “While you may know a tiger’s stripes, that does not necessarily mean you would be able to see them in the wild.”

He smiled bitterly. “Are you trying to make me feel better?”

“Yes.” She admitted bluntly. “But that doesn’t make me wrong.”

He sighed. “I still should have done something then. I knew she was capable of bad things. There was no excuse for not warning anyone at least.” He gave a sad laugh. “I can’t even imagine how Marinette must have felt when I told her to leave things alone.”

Adrien hesitated, coming to a realization.

“I think I’ve been doing that a lot...” He admitted. “I did the same thing to her when it came to Chloe when she was being her worst.”

“I cannot speak regarding Chloe.” Kagami stated, and she couldn’t given her limited interaction with the bratty daughter of the mayor. Anything she had to say about the girl would likely be far from helpful and only get them off track. “But if I may ask...why keep putting it on Marinette then when you knew she wasn’t in the wrong?“

He shrugged, despondent and uncertain.

“I just felt safer with her.” He answered.

He was used to being friends with Chloe. Where he had been expected to give her what she wants. Whether it was completing whatever task she demanded of him or tell her what she wanted to hear.

Telling her what she wanted to hear...even if it wasn’t true.

But Marinette...

“I knew Marinette would listen to me. And she’s been good with reaching out and giving chances.”

When two parties were arguing, one of them needed to be willing to offer an olive branch if they were to reconcile and make things better. But so far, Marinette was the only one he could see in that role. The only one capable of it, to be honest.

Heaven knew how often she intervened for their classmates. She’d stood up for them, but she had also been willing to put her own feelings aside to come to a compromise. After all, she had helped Chloe more than once. Even in spite of everything Chloe had done.

“My thoughts were that if I could get Marinette to listen and agree, others would follow suit. And there could be compromise. But that was an unfair burden to keep putting on her and I ignored that there were times she shouldn’t have had to be the one to reach out first. And when Lila came along…”

He shrugged, helplessly.

“In a weird way, I thought I was supporting her by encouraging her to not fight back.”

That turned out to be a mistake. One that had hurt everyone.

It was never that she didn’t matter as much as anyone else, or that she was less important than keeping the peace. It was just that out of everyone, she was the only one who would take that first step and he knew that. He knew it wasn’t fair to keep putting such responsibility on her. But there was no one else he could count on to help or mediate things. And he just didn’t want the class to fall apart.

He kept telling himself he would make it up to her and that he would support her when she needed it, but he wasn’t the most observant of people and Marinette always seemed so strong, like she’d never needed his help.

“I wasn’t being fair to her.“

The fact that he knew Marinette could handle things did not necessarily mean that she should be expected to be the one to have to, or that he should expect her to.

Kagami hummed to her self, thinking for a moment.

“Did you consider that the longer Lila Rossi was allowed to continue on, the more hurt other people would be once her lies were revealed?“

He winced.

“Or did you think they would be revealed at all?“

He sighed and slowly nodded. “At the start, her lies seemed frivolous and only meant to make herself look better. I had figured that either she would get comfortable and stop, or that people would lose interest in listening to her.”

She nodded, considering. “It was a reasonable assumption, albeit an erroneous one.“

He looked away and nodded. “It was a mistake on my part for assuming that much. I wanted to believe that people can get better and learn from their mistakes. And I keep wanting to give second chances, even in situations where I really shouldn’t.”

He knew now that Lila went beyond that.

“Why I let it happen was a combination of a lot of reasons really. I thought she would quit on her own. I thought people would get tired of listening to her. I thought that she would come clean herself. I thought, if nothing else, people would catch on to her lies. I had so many reasons behind my decision, but at the end of the day, it was the choice I made and I will never know what would’ve happened if I had simply told someone sooner. Maybe this could’ve been avoided.”

“But there’s no point lingering on the possibilities of different decisions now that the moment for them has passed.“ She pointed out.

He gave her a slight smile at that. “Yeah. While we all feel bad about it, wallowing in that isn’t going to change anything at this point. We’ve decided to keep our focus on trying to find Marinette. And if nothing else, the reveal of Lila will ensure she can’t sabotage our efforts anymore.”

“Has there been any luck?“

“Alya said she found something. Nino and I are going to talk to her tonight to go over what she’s learned. Maybe she found something that could help?“

“How are things with them?” She asked.

“They’re doing all right. Better than they were with Lila around. The others were really forgiving.” More than he honestly felt he deserved.

Kagami seemed satisfied with that. “They are good friends. If you try to talk to them, they will listen.”

He frowned, a bit frustrated but it seemed to be mostly with himself. “I know.”

She rested a hand on his shoulder. “If there’s something wrong, or if something is troubling you, then you should be free tocommunicate it. If nothing else, it can allow you to get a second opinion on a Point of concern. And in many cases you can share information that other people may not know.“

He smiled at her gratefully.

She smiled back.

“One of the common mistakes in fencing is to hesitate and miss an opportunity to act. Once the moment is over, it’s too late. But if nothing else, you at least have the knowledge for next time.”

“I know.” He agreed. “It’s why I want to help find Marinette. I want to be able to apologize to her in person…and reassure her that things will be better now.”

He clenched his fists.

“She deserves that much, at least.”

Because she was…

To him she was…

Kagami nodded in understanding.

“Marinette is a good friend.” She stated. “If there is any way I could help, I would like to try.”

He smiled.

“Thank you, Kagami.”

______________________

Another day came with another search party. The available classmates gathered in another attempt to try to locate their missing friend. Unfortunately, life goes on even when it feels like the world should stop turning. As such, not all of them were able to make it this day.

Adrien had fencing, and with his hectic schedule and strict expectations, he couldn’t afford to keep missing appointments or he’d lose any freedom to help in the search. Max was busy with a project and was thus unable to join the group on what was steadily becoming a new after school activity of searching the city for any clues. Nathaniel needed to do chores and help his dad at home. Mylene wasn’t feeling well and nobody wanted to risk her coming down with a cold or other illness. Kim had swim practice followed by a date, and it didn’t feel fair to make him give up something positive that made him happy on a search that would likely leave them all feeling drained and depressed.

Chloe was...well, Chloe. And while she had been surprisingly willing to step up and pull a major victory against Lila when it mattered, that one good deed didn’t necessarily mean she wasn’t still her usual self absorbed self. And it certainly didn’t mean that she was willing to traverse around Paris in the cold for who knows how long on behalf of someone she has expressed nothing but dislike for. She made it clear she would be spending her afternoon in warmth and comfort.

Sabrina, naturally, went with her. Though she had wished the group luck with their search.

This left Alya and Nino, along with the members of Kitty Section for the search. To Alya’s surprise, this meant they were joined by Luka as well.

“Luka? You helping out as well?” Nino greeted.

Luka hefted his guitar on his back and nodded. “ I heard you were looking and I wanted to help out anyway I could.”

In normal circumstances, Alya would be gleeful at the show of concern by a cute guy for her friend and the sign of at least one of her ships moving forward. But as sweet as the gesture was, it was really just a reminder of the fact that her friend was still missing, so whatever joy she felt was short-lived.

She shivered.

Chloe did have a point though. As it was getting later into the year, the days were getting colder. It only made her all the more concerned that her friend could be out on the streets in winter.

It was all the more reason to find her sooner. And she straightened, bringing out her phone and planning to do just that.

Alya had spent most of the night and well into the early hours of the morning going through the data Max gave her regarding Marinette’s phone.

What she found was....strange.

The phone itself was gone. Possibly turned off. However, the signal was still there. It was blurry. Seemingly fading in and out, inconsistent, and frequently moving. But it was there.

The data showed the status of Marinette’s phone and its location over the past weeks. Which was…weird, to say the least. The signal was abnormally weak. And didn’t seem to stick to one set location which she would have expected if the phone had been lost. No, if anything, it seemed to be...almost roaming?

Which didn’t make sense. If she was kidnapped, the kidnappers surely would have tossed the phone. And if it had just been left somewhere while being left on, it still should have run out of battery by now.

Instead, it just...sort of kept cutting in and out at random. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to it.

But what had caught Alya’s attention was just when and where this strange status first started, which she had decided would be the location of their search for the day.

The others followed her, letting her lead the way while they chatted amicably with one another. Alya only half paid attention to what they were saying, her focus primarily on her phone and the map it was showing.

“It’s getting colder out, huh?”

“Anyone want to grab a hot chocolate after this? Maybe just as a pick me up after the search?”

“That sounds nice! What do you think, Juleka?”

“I’m in.”

“Hey Luka, is it really a good idea to bring your guitar out here for this?“

“It helps me think. And besides, you never know when it might be needed.“

“I guess.”

Alya, for her part, only half minded the conversation behind her as she led the group to the last known location of Marinette’s phone before it started doing...this. This strange fuzzy image that didn’t seem to be all there.

Unfortunately, the map icon was only able to narrow down the location so much. She was able to find the general area Marinette had been in last, but the specific place...

She looked around.

Strangely, the map led her to a somewhat out of the way area. It was a normal street. Shops of various kinds were lined up along the sidewalk. There wasn’t much that stood out. This was a simple district with no real landmarks. There was no real draw. No tourist attractions. No fabric stores either to garner Marinette’s interest.

So why come here? What had she been doing? And where did she go?

“Does anything stick out to you guys?” Alya asked as she glanced around, trying to find anything that could indicate where Marinette had been.

The others started looking around as well, but for all intents and purposes, it was just a plain street. The split up amongst themselves to go into the shops and ask around for clues. But none of the stores seemed like places where Marinette would go. And none of the workers inside had seen her. Though if they had, there was no way for her to have stood out to them enough for them to recall her weeks later.

“Not with the akuma attack, anyway.” One clerk stated. “It was a distance away, sure, but still close enough that we all shut down and hid out in our stores.”

Alya had nodded in understanding. Because honestly, while Ladybug and Chat Noir did a great job stopping the akumas, the fights could take them all over Paris in the span of an hour. Even if a battle was on the other side of the city, there was no telling where they would end up by the end.

She thanked the man for his time and left the store. Nothing she didn’t already know, but still, any information was useful. Something about it had nagged at her, though, so she wrote it in her notes all the same.

“Any luck?” Ivan asked, causing her to look up at the assembled group. Nino had been chatting with Ivan while Luka had taken to strumming on his guitar while they waited. Rose and Juleka were talking to someone at a nearby kiosk, possibly to purchase one of the charms.

Alya shook her head, regretfully. “Nothing on my end. At least not anything new. How about you?”

The boys shook their heads sadly. Alya couldn’t help the disappointment at that.

“Do you think there’s something we missed?” Ivan asked, trying to be hopeful.

Luka frowned, playing a few notes on his guitar, a bit harshly in apparent agitation. It was probably his method of coping, Alya rationalized. A part of her wished she had some reassurance to give him, but she was feeling despondent herself. Whatever boost she had gotten from seeing justice served with Lila was starting to falter, and she didn’t know how much hope she’d be able to hold on to for her best friend.

“Hey guys!” Rose came running over, looking excited. Juleka followed along silently behind her at a somewhat slower but still faster than usual pace. “That guy selling charms said he saw Marinette that day!”

That got their attention as everyone perked up.

“Really?”

“Where?”

“It was right before the akuma attack.” Rose explained, practically bouncing as she told them. “She was looking at the charms at his kiosk and mumbling about different designs for them, so they had gotten to talking a bit.” She frowned, looking concerned. “But then they heard the akuma alert. The owner was shutting down his kiosk but pointed out the direction he saw Marinette run.”

Juleka reached out, pointing towards a gap between two particular stores. “In there.”

Alya turned to look. The stores in question were both the tallest buildings on the street, standing at four stories with a clear alleyway between them. They didn’t have much in the way of decorations, but with the awnings and balconies, did appear to provide cover. Maybe Marinette had hid in there during the fight?

The alleyway itself was empty. Other than a fire escape on one side, a dumpster, and a fence blocking the way through, there didn’t seem to be much else of notice. And the dumpster had to have been cleaned out in the weeks since Marinette’s disappearance.

Nino heaved a sigh of relief when Alya told him this before he could attempt to dumpster dive for clues. He wanted to find Marinette, sure. And he certainly would have been willing to loot a dumpster for her, but that didn’t mean he wanted to.

The group spread out along the alley, continuing to search for clues. While not searching within the dumpster itself, Nino and Ivan had gone so far as to lift the dumpster enough for Rose to do a quick search beneath for anything. Juleka checked the fence for any holes or ways through. Luka stood near the entrance to the alley as a lookout in case anyone noticed them, absently picking at notes on his guitar.

Alya, for her part, tried to check the fire escape. Was it reachable from the ground? No, it was at least a story up and the ladder leading to it wasn’t lowered if it was even there at all. Maybe if Marinette had stood on the dumpster? Hmm...what if there was a way to check for height on her map?

She pulled out her phone

And immediately froze.

There, on her phone’s map, was a blinking, fuzzy icon. The one that had been indicating Marinette. At some point without realizing it, she had switched from the image of Marinette’s last placement to the current. She saw her own indicator with her picture, as well as those of her other friends with her.

But amidst her searching, the icon symbolizing Marinette’s current location on her map had been moving.

It was moving here.

And suddenly...

It had stopped.

It...was here.

Marinette...it said she was here.

Alya froze.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t even move her body from her spot. At most, she was able to move her eyes, searching wildly for any trace of her best friend.

But...nothing.

Why was it saying she was here?

“Marinette?!”

All other sound ceased. The others turned to her, but she didn’t even notice because it was here! The signal was right here! Marinette was here!

But…she wasn’t.

It was just herself. Just Alya. Just Nino. Just Luka and Rose and the rest of Kitty Section. Just them. Just random people passing by on the street.

No Marinette.

But…

A quick glance to the phone showed it was still there. So Marinette had to be here, right?

But why?

Alya looked around frantically, calling out in desperation.

“MARINETTE?!”

Silence.

A few strange looks from the people nearby.

Not even her friends dared to speak.

And on her phone, the icon symbolizing Marinette’s signal started to fade and drift away.

Alya stared at the icon. Wishing it back.

“Babe…” Nino tried, approaching her cautiously. “What was that?”

She bit her lip.

“I…don’t know?”

______________________

Oh.

The music stopped.

Whatever strands of melody and lingering echoes of the tune had since faded from the rooftop where she stood.

It had been a beautiful melody. Something gentle and kind in its own way. And while she knew better than to take a break, she had a strange inclination to listen to the sweet yet heartbreaking tune while it lasted.

…it just hadn’t lasted very long.

The loss felt…sad, in a way. She couldn’t help but feel that it had been cut off all too soon.

And the silence bothered her.

It seemed…stifling, almost.

She shook it off.

It was time to go anyway. She had spent too much time here as it was. And she still needed to…do whatever it was she was here to do. Continue searching the city. Keep an eye out for any akumas. Be useful. Stay busy.

Until she could go back to wherever she had been before, at least.

She sighed and threw her yo-yo. As she approached the edge of the building, she allowed the low murmur of background noise and city life to erase that gnawing emptiness. She swung off, leaving the sounds of shouting behind her. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound important.

Back to work.

______________________

Evening came all too slowly for Adrien. The rest of the day seemed to drag on and made him all that much more eager for the end of school. And wasn’t that an irony that he actually wanted to be out of school for once?

But the only thing he was more eager about than school was his friends. And Alya seemed to think she had a lead on Marinette. If she had anything, he wanted to know. If there was even a chance, he’d happily take it if it meant getting to see her again.

Unfortunately, their differing schedules made meeting difficult. Alya had wanted to share her info with Nino, and knowing how affected Adrien was by everything, Nino had insisted Adrien be there as well. But Adrien had practice and lessons after school. And Nino and Alya both had obligations at their respective homes.

It had been decided that they would do a phone chat later in the evening. After Nino and Alya’s younger siblings were put to bed and when Adrien’s schedule was clear.

He was practically vibrating out of his chair with nervousness the longer he waited for their video chat.

“Boo!”

So much so that he actually fell out of his chair when Plagg returned.

“Plagg! Where have you been?!” Adrien demanded as he pushed himself up. He was of course happy that he had returned, but really!

The kwami snickered at Adrien’s expression. Could anyone blame him? That was hilarious.

...but back on point, Plagg remembered his news and quickly got serious.

“I couldn’t find the Guardian.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Did something happen to him?”

Plagg shrugged. “I don’t know. He could just be out running errands or something. We’ll need to try again.”

“I could try calling him now.” Adrien suggested. If he had just been busy when he tried before, then surely it would be all right to try again to reach him now? And as long as he had his phone, Fu should be able to get his call. Though in that case, Fu should already have known about his earlier call, right?

Adrien bit his lip in worry. So much had been happening lately. Marinette disappeared. The whole thing with Lila. Ladybug was...apparently in a bad mood for some reason. Now Plagg was agitated and they couldn’t reach Master Fu.

He took a breath to steady himself. They weren’t sure Fu was actually unreachable yet. He needed to call him first. And if that didn’t work, he could have Plagg lead him to the man’s place to check up on him.

Still...he couldn’t help the anxiety he was feeling, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

BRIIIIIING!

“AAH!”

As was evident when he panicked at the sudden alarm from his phone. So much so that it took him three tries to grab the phone as he kept dropping it due to his frantic fumbling. Ignoring Plagg’s commentary, he looked to the screen and saw it was a video call request from Alya.

Oh right. The video chat with Nino and Alya. It was supposed to start now. He had just gotten distracted.

He took a breath and answered the call.

“Hey! Hi! Hello! Glad you made it!”

Honestly, he could have smacked himself.

Somewhere off to the side, Plagg was snickering. On the video, both Alya and Nino seemed to be smiling at how frazzled he appeared. Adrien himself was much less amused.

“Did you find anything?” He asked, only partly to distract from himself.

Mostly because he was hoping for some news. That their excursion earlier had been successful. That they’d found something on their friend. Preferably the friend in question.

But their downhearted expressions told him the answer before they even had to say anything. The explanation that followed was short but detailed, and only seemed to further his confusion. Given their expressions, Adrien was sure that Alya and Nino were in the same boat.

“It was the weirdest thing...” Alya trailed off in a mutter.

“I’ll say.” Nino added with a laugh. “You were kind of freaking out. We all panicked when you started shouting.”

In any other instance, Alya might have been offended. As it was, though, she was quiet. Remaining deep in thought and seemingly oblivious to her boyfriend’s attempt to distract from her.

But Adrien noticed.

“Alya? What’s up?”

A moment of silence followed as she attempted to gather her thoughts.

Then...

“I have a theory.“ Alya started, looking apprehensive.

Adrien perked up. “A theory? What of?”

Nino, for his part, found in realization. “Does this have to do with what happened earlier?“

She nodded. “I’d been following her cell phone signal. After…” She hesitated for a second. “Well, when I was Lady Wifi, I managed to track Marinette’s phone signal and that same signal is on my phone now. But something isn’t right about it.”

She lifted her phone to the screen so Adrien could see what she meant. Sure enough, there was Marinette’s icon active on the map, but...it looked strange. Distorted. He struggled to tell that it was Marinette’s picture there at all.

“It’s been like this for a while. I’ve never seen any case like this, and there are no reports online of anything similar. Plus given how it’s been moving around…” She pulled her phone back and shrugged. “I think magic may be involved.”

Adrien straightened. “So you think she might have been akumatized?”

She shrugged. “Near as I can figure.“

Nino frowned. “But that doesn’t make sense. Hawk Moth can only akumatize one person at a time.“

Well, that wasn’t quite true, Adrien realized. There had been the Scarlet Moth incident when he had caused a mass akumatization with that illusion. Then it happened again that time Marinette had been expelled thanks to Lila’s schemes.

He bit back the rush of resentment and guilt at the memory to focus.

Could Hawk Moth akumatize more than one person at once? There had been the young twins who became Sapotis and when Alya and Nino became Oblivio, but those were cases where two people were essentially one akuma. And even in the case of multiple active akuma like the time Lady WiFi, Reflecta, and Princess Fragrance came after him thanks to his cousin, they all still only shared one akuma. Purifying that had been enough to restore all three, and in this case, he and Ladybug had already done that. So if that was the case, Marinette should have been restored as well, even if they hadn’t fought her.

“Could he have made Lady WiFi if Marinette was already an akuma?” Adrien asked.

“He’s akumatized more than one person at once though. There was the incident with the scarlet butterflies. And then there were also the time with my sisters.” Alya argued, remembering the same incidents Adrien had.

“And when Adrien’s jerk of a cousin caused you, Rose, and Juleka to be akumatized.” Nino added.

Alya groaned. “We just don’t know the extent of Hawk Moth’s power.”

Adrien nodded at that. Of course it was possible that Hawk Moth had discovered some new ability. But his power seemed to follow certain rules and have at least some limitations, so it didn’t make sense that he could suddenly do this.

Or why, for that matter? Hawk Moth did show some capability for planning—Scarlet Moth was proof of that. But what could he possibly gain from keeping Marinette as an akuma for this long?

But...hadn’t he targeted her before?

Adrien bit his lip.

There was too much uncertainty.

He sent a glance to Plagg, who saw his look and shook his head in response. The kwami looked particularly annoyed at the current train of the discussion. Clearly they were on the wrong track.

Adrien took a breath. “I don’t think that’s it. If it was Hawk Moth, what would be the purpose? We all know Marinette is gone now and would be looking for anything that could be behind it. If he had the ability to akumatize multiple people back to back, why use it like this? It doesn’t add up.”

“I don’t know if it is that Hawk Moth akumatized her.” Aly admitted. “It’s just that it has to be magic. There’s no other way to explain it. I mean, it’s not just Marinette that’s gone. Her cellphone…” She hesitated. “It isn’t stable. It’s there, but...not? And she was there today. I know she was.”

She had to give Max credit for his capabilities. The data was extensive and thorough despite the clear limits. And quite advanced. She hadn’t known it was possible to get as much data as he had, or even that it existed. But it was helpful to her search, and that was the important thing. With it, she was able to glean information. And slowly, a timeline started to form.

As did a theory.

“So her phone signal is still there, but she isn’t. And it’s been like this since...“

Since Marinette went missing.

The same day she disappeared, the biggest thing that happened that day was—

“The akuma.” Alya whispered. She frowned as she switched her browser on her computer to the Ladyblog and started looking through the archived footage and documentation of that attack.

There was an akuma attack that day. Someone feeling forgotten and overlooked was given the power to erase others.

She had watched a video of one such unfortunate victim. The poor guy didn’t even have a chance to wince at being hit. He just vanished the instant the attack made contact.

“But if Marinette was akumatized,” Nino continued, “why would Hawk Moth even make an akuma like that? If she’s not doing anything other than making herself disappear...that’s not useful for him, is it?”

Alya frowned, looking over the data again. “It’s not, no.”

Adrien also wasn’t convinced. From Plagg’s expression, it seemed he had some idea, though now wasn’t the time to press him. He’d have to wait until after the call was over. “It’s also much quieter, isn’t it? Every akuma up until now has been immediate and noticeable, otherwise Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn’t know to come out and fight it, and Hawk Moth wouldn’t have a chance to target their Miraculous. The only exception was when Sabrina was akumatized the first time to be invisible, and even that was only for a couple of days.”

Nino shrugged but appeared to agree with him. “It’s been a couple of weeks since Marinette disappeared. If it was an akuma, wouldn’t we have noticed one by now? Akumas are generally fueled by emotions. They aren’t subtle.”

Alya looked back at her phone, reviewing the timeline. “But if she isn’t an akuma herself, then the only other option I can think of is that she was hit by that erasure akuma last month.” She shook her head, incredulous. “But that can’t be right. The Miraculous Cure would have brought her back, wouldn’t it?”

So caught in the discussion between his friends, Adrien didn’t see how Plagg looked stricken.

“It’s never failed before.” Nino stated.

“But what else could explain the state of her phone signal? It should either be there or not at all.

Adrien paused, tilting his head thoughtfully.  “That’s not normal.” He agreed.

“It does indicate that whatever happened to Marinette, it must be magical. And the only one with any sort of power along those lines would be Hawk Moth.”

“But why?”

She sighed.

“I guess that’s the question, isn’t it?”

None of them noticed Gabriel standing outside the door. Or the expression of dawning horror.

________________

Gabriel felt numb in a way he never thought he had been before.

The missing Dupain-Cheng girl? An akuma?

No. That was impossible.

Even if he was capable of akumatizing more than one person at a time outside of the Scarlet Moths, he would still have known. He would have made contact with her. And from his experience with his powers, he would have a link to the girl.

There was nothing.

But the only other explanation…

An official victim of an akuma attack. Someone that the Cure didn’t bring back.

How was it possible?

He entered the office in a daze. Nathalie followed him closely  in worry, but he barely took notice. He just shut the door quietly behind him once they had both entered, then leaned against it. He felt shaky. Off balance.

He had gone to his son’s room to see if he had access to any of the pictures or footage from the fashion show. Or if that journalist friend of his still had her video. Just...anything.

Audrey had called him in such a rage that day. Somehow, the shipments of her latest issue of Style Queen never made it out. Her attempt to recover the issue failed due to multiple holes and entire blank pages where pictures and articles should have been. So she had reached out to him through Nathalie, demanding his involvement and taking his attention away from his duties as Hawk Moth. At the time, he had begrudged her the missed opportunity at another akumatization.

But now…

“That can’t be right.” He murmured to himself. How could this be? How was this even possible?

“Sir?”

“The blank pages and missing pictures were those of myself and my son, as well as any of my son in that hat.”

“The one from the contest?” Nathalie asked, uncertainly.

“Made by a Marinette Dupain-Cheng. A girl who it seems is also missing. And has been for some time…”

He looked to his computer, wondering if he could pull up the information or if that would be gone as well. He had thought it a simple error at first, but the more he searched, the less he found. And now, after hearing his son’s conversation...what else could it be?

“But the Miraculous Cure restores everything.” He continued, almost monotone. “That’s what it does. That’s how it works.”

She hesitated.

“Maybe…not this time?”

He felt unsteady as he made his way to his desk. Perhaps he actually was, as Nathalie had quickly moved to his side to help him to his chair. Given how he felt, he could only assume he probably looked ready to fall over.

“Sir?”

It…it shouldn’t have happened. The Miraculous Cure always undid any damage of the akuma battles. It rebuilt any damaged or destroyed property. Healed injuries. Brought people back from any sort of unwelcome fate. It restored people from being half-melted ice cream sculptures, for crying out loud!

For anyone to have just…NOT been saved was unheard of.

Gabriel had thought he had been prepared for this. But now that he was actually experiencing it, he was…left shaken...

He had known going in that casualties would be a very real possibility, but had reassured himself. It was for the greater good. His family was worth it. Everything would work out in the end. He could just use the Wish to change the world and make it so that none of this had ever happened.

And then Ladybug had appeared with the power to restore things and he was only further convinced. There wouldn’t be any long term damage. No one would be really harmed. Whatever happened could be fixed.

No one would die.

It became almost like a game. He could go all out with little concern for the consequences. If he lost, Ladybug would just use her Cure to fix everything and he would get another chance to try again. And if he won, he could correct things himself.

As such, he ceased to worry about the “what if’s” and focused solely on his goal.

But now a child was gone. As good as dead. Possibly worse.

And this time, magic wouldn’t bring her back.

For not the first time since he had started on this path, Gabriel wondered if it was worth it.

Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng was an aspiring designer who showed great promise. From his limited interactions with her, he could see she had passion—both for her art and in her life. He had been impressed with what he had seen of her capability, and her level of care for his son was secret only to Adrien himself.

And now she was gone.

And Adrien…his own son was suffering for it.

He had heard from Nathalie how Adrien had been worried for her. How he had gone so far as to go out and search for her in some futile hope of finding her. How he had held onto that hope, trying to reassure himself each day that she would return safely.

Adrien…truly cared about this girl.

He wondered if it was any different to how he felt about Emilie?

What would he think if he learned the truth? If he discovered who Hawk Moth really was? If he knew his father was the reason his friend had been erased.

It was…too much.

Was this a sign?

Was this an indicator that he was going too far?

He should stop. Before more people were hurt. Before his son discovered the truth. He should…

He should stop this.

…

And yet…

Gabriel clenched his eyes shut.

…he couldn’t.

Stopping meant letting go of Emilie. It meant giving up on ever getting her back. Of ever making their family whole.

If he gave up now, that would make all he had done for nothing—including the child’s loss as well.

He was not completely heartless. A missing child would no doubt cause quite a bit of turmoil. It was no wonder Lady WiFi hadn’t listened to him, being too intent on searching for her friend. The feelings that had drawn his akuma to her...similar to the growing feelings settling on a number of Paris’s citizens.

Worry, sadness, fear, anger…all were emotions that would make perfect targets for his akumas. In any other circumstances, he would see fit to use that. However…given his part in this matter, the very thought of using the loss of a child to his advantage—especially when it was his fault—made him feel ill.

He would avoid targeting her friends or family. He owed her that much.

But he…he had to continue.

He had to make it worth it.

Once he saved Emilie, perhaps he could even use the Wish to bring back Miss Dupain-Cheng as well?

Then maybe…

Maybe they would forgive him someday.

________________

Sure enough, a few days later it all came to a head.

When Adrien arrived in class that day after yet another failed attempt at contacting Master Fu, it was to a group of some of his classmates looking particularly concerned and surrounding an upset Juleka. The girl wasn't crying, but she looked to be close as Rose kept an arm around her shoulder and was trying to whisper words of comfort to her. The only ones not present were Max and Nathaniel.

"Don't worry.” Rose reassured her. “I’m sure they've just been misplaced somewhere."

Juleka shook her head firmly. "No. I keep them on my wall. I never move them, but they're just gone."

"Maybe your mom or Luka moved them?" Kim suggested.

"Not without telling me. And I asked them. Neither of them knew anything."

Adrien grew more concerned as he approached the group. "Guys, what's going on?"

Alix glanced over to him and answered. "Juleka's photos are missing."

That was a surprise. He knew how much actually appearing in a photograph meant to the girl. It would have to be upsetting to her to lose any of them.

"They were all the ones from the class photograph.” Mylene explained. "Remember? The ones we took in the park.”

Adrien winced internally before nodding. He had remembered full well that entire incident...and the akuma she turned into because of it...and the heels (god, the heels). They had taken quite a number that day and Juleka had seemed so happy when she went home with copies in hand. "Do you recall where you last left them?"

Juleka appeared more morose. "They're on my wall. They're always right there and I can't miss them. I put them up immediately after getting home and haven't moved them since. I know I saw them there yesterday, but when I got up this morning, the wall was completely blank."

"That's really weird.” Alya chimed in. "And you're saying no one moved them?"

Juleka shook her head.

The other classmates glanced to each other, appearing more uncertain. Adrien himself started to gain an unsettling feeling.

"I keep them all posted on a board in my room. They're right there and I can't miss them, but when I looked this morning…” She shook her head.

"I never move them."

"Maybe it's a prank?” Kim asked, but he sounded uncertain. If it was a prank, it was a cruel and rather pointless one.

Alix seemed to share that sentiment. "It's not a funny one. Who would even do that?"

The group looked around at each other. They were really the only ones who even knew Juleka's "curse” or about the pictures. But each of them simply looked confused over the matter.

"It couldn't have been a prank.” Ivan insisted. "Luka would never do that and their mother would punch out anyone who tried."

Mylene frowned, considering. "Juleka's house is a boat. One housing three people and isn't that big that someone could sneak on board without being seen."

“It’d be a pointless thing to do—sneak onto a boat just to mess with pictures and nothing else.” Kim noted. “Was anything else missing?”

Juleka shook her head. “Not that I know of. Just my pictures.”

"It's okay." Rose said, trying to be cheerful and calm her upset friend. "I have a couple extras of the photos we took in my notebook. We can copy them and replace the ones that went missing."

It wasn’t quite the same, but it was a suitable alternative for now. So with a solution to the more immediate problem at hand, Rose shared a bright smile that Juleka tried to return—albeit with a much more strained and shaky one. Rose didn't comment, instead going to her desk and pulling out her book bag.

“I keep them right in—”

The others looked over in confusion as Rose suddenly cut off, her expression turning confused.

"Rose? Everything okay?” Alix asked, growing worried at the prolonged silence.

Rose bit her lip and turned back to the group. "Did one of you maybe already take my notebook?"

Confusion seemed to be the theme of the day, as the classmates again glanced at one another before looking back to Rose.

"I'm not mad or anything!” Rose said, attempting to reassure them. "Since it's for Juleka, but if you already have it, I'd like to know where it is."

"Wait...are you saying your notebook is missing, too?" Nino asked.

Rose bit her lip, uncertain. "I don't—I mean, I guess so?"

"That's strange." Adrien said with a frown. He turned to the rest of the group in growing concern. "Look around. Is anyone else missing anything?"

The rest of the class searched through their bags, but fortunately, no one else seemed to be missing anything.

“That is odd. First Juleka’s pictures, then Rose’s diary? Why those things?” Alya wondered. She muttered to herself about an akuma and checked her blog to see if anyone had posted any similar cases on the matter.

The rest of the class took it upon themselves to try and offer some reassurance to the two girls that their items would be found.

“Maybe we can check the cameras?” Ivan suggested.

“That’s a lot of footage to go through though.” Nino pointed out.

“I bet Markov could go through it pretty quick.” Kim replied with a grin.

Adrien looked around at his classmates. It was good to see them mostly recovered from the ordeal with Lila and trying to help each other. But he couldn’t shake the feeling something was strange.

He could almost get a sense for it before he was interrupted by the timely yet untimely arrival of Max.

Kim smiled in relief at the sight of his friend. “Hey, Max! Buddy! Think you and Markov could give us a hand with a little investigation? Rose and Juleka seem to be missing some things and we figured maybe you could help!”

Max, for his part, looked concerned and a bit guilty. "I'm sorry, but Markov and I are already busy trying to assist Nathaniel and Marc. It seems that somehow, their collaborative comic has been erased."

Multiple gasp and moans of horror and disappointment filled the room at that. Everyone really enjoyed that comic and they had been really looking forward to the next installment.

"Do you know what caused it?" Mylene asked.

"We've been doing everything we could, but we haven't been able to find anything about the comic in the computer. I suspect it may be a virus of some kind, but there's no trace of anything of the sort. We're trying to help them work this out. They had gotten a lot of work done on this comic and I'd hate to see it lost."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're amazing when it comes to technology." Kim said with a grin, fully confident in his friend's capabilities.

But Max didn't look enthused. "I'm not so sure. Markov can't find any trace of an outside program or of the comic even being there.” He waved his hands. “It’s like it just…vanished!”

Adrien frowned. Three things in one day. It…couldn’t just be coincidence, could it?

“Can it do that?”

“Not like that. Not normally.”

"This is strange.” Mylene said anxiously, gripping Ivan’s hand. “A lot of things seem to be missing."

Alya frowned, looking at her phone. "Speaking of strange things, I just got a hit to the Ladyblog. It's Marinette's parents. They want to talk to Ladybug and Chat Noir as soon as possible."

Several of the classmates perked in surprise.

“Could it be an akuma?”

“Do you think they’re okay?”

“Did they find something about Marinette?”

“But why call for Ladybug and Chat Noir then?”

“Huh? Hey, Adrien, where are you going? Class is about to start!”

Adrien barely took notice. He was already out the door.

______________________

If he hadn't already received the message, Chat would have known immediately that something was wrong. Rolland and Gina Dupain were present at the bakery. He knew little regarding the Dupain family, but he had been under the impression that the two were not on good terms. But they were actually working together without issue, with Gina working the counter and Rolland working the kitchen with nary a grumble regarding the bread.

When Chat arrived, Gina immediately called for Tom. And within seconds, he was quickly rushed in by the much taller man, who…did not look well.

The giant, kind bear of a man looked like he had aged since the last time he had seen him. Not to any great or unnatural extent, but it was clear that stress had impacted him.

Losing a child would do that to you, he realized. But whatever else was going on was certainly doing him no favors.

"Thank you for coming." Tom said with clear relief as he opened the door.

Chat nodded in return as he entered. "It's not a problem. But your message sounded urgent. Has there been any word on Marinette?" Like hopefully that she returned and the bakery was closed so the parents could smother her in affection?

He was hopeful. He was a hopeful guy.

Tom shook his head. "I don't know how to explain it. It's best if you see it for yourself." With that, he led the way through the back. Chat followed with some growing trepidation and jumped when he entered the living area.

Sabine was there. Her gaze practically snapped to him the instant he appeared, though she didn't otherwise move. The woman was sitting on the couch, clutching a box of what appeared to contain an assortment of clothes and dolls. Marinette's things, he realized. But why? Comfort, perhaps?

But Sabine didn't look sad or in need of comfort. If anything, her expression made him wary to approach her. She looked upset no—not just upset, but downright angry. She was on guard and watching him with a strange sort of hypervigilance. Like she'd literally bite his hand off if he got too close. He had no doubt that magical suit or not, the woman probably could.

Chat had thought the grandparents had looked particularly tired. Like perhaps they hadn’t slept in a while. But Tom and Sabine both looked like they had slept even less.

For her part, Sabine’s eyes narrowed at him and she pulled the box closer to her and as out of his sight as possible. It bothered him, because it was strange for someone to be clutching a box like that. She wasn't looking to the things inside for solace, she was warily watching everything else around her.

Something was wrong.

More wrong, he amended.

"We noticed it after a few days, but we didn't know what to think." Tom said, softly as he continued to lead the hero up the stairs and through the house. "It looked like some of her things had been moved around. At first we thought that maybe she'd found a way back home. Or that she was trying to communicate with us somehow. But... “He opened the door and allowed Chat into the room.

When Chat finally entered Marinette's room, he couldn't help feeling bewildered.

Was it always this empty, he wondered? He glanced around at the different areas of Marinette's room, noting the differences and the overall"¦lacking. The walls were missing pictures. There was nothing on the desk. The mannequin that was normally adorned with the beginnings of some sort of outfit or new piece wasn't even present, leaving a sadly empty space in the room. There weren't even the knick knacks or textiles or yarn or cloth pieces that he remembered seeing previously. It looked like a room. It even looked like someone lived in it. But it was bare of a lot of what made it Marinette's.

Tom looked around the room in growing dismay. "It's getting worse."

Chat blinked in confusion. "What?"

"The posters are gone now. So are the gloves she had been working on. Several of the pictures changed before they disappeared." Tom looked to Chat, eyes begging for an answer. "We checked frequently, but bit by bit, they were gone before we realized it. It's like they're just...”

"They're fading." Chat realized in growing horror. He'd started to suspect, given Juleka's pictures and Rose's diary, but this confirmed it.

This wasn't natural.

Marinette didn't run away. Nothing so simple could explain what he had been seeing so far. No human could pull this off, and he knew Marinette was far from the sort to even try, no matter the reason. This was magic, he was sure of it.

"Sabine and I have been taking shifts. Whenever we looked away, something else was gone. So we just...” He shrugged helplessly before gesturing down the ladder.

Downstairs. To where Sabine sat hoarding a box with all the ferocity of a dragon guarding its gold.

He understood now. Marinette's mother wasn't holding onto Marinette's belongings out of missing her child, she was literally trying to keep them from disappearing!

Her room. The pictures. The notebook. The comic. They were all connected by her influence. Everything Marinette owned or had a part in was starting to fade away. Her parents figured it out and they were trying to protect what was left of their daughter.

He clenched his fists.

He had to talk to Ladybug.

______________________

How frustrating.

It had been weeks, but Ladybug had made little progress in her self appointed mission to track down Hawk Moth. And it had been vexing, especially given his recent silence. Other than Lady Wifi, there hadn’t been any other akuma attacks. Even in spite of the more despondent atmosphere she had noticed around the Francois Dupont school as of late.

He must be planning something...

Surely there had to be some minor issue he would consider escalating to akuma-worthy. That incident in the park with that strange old man certainly stood out in her mind as one such missed opportunity for the supervillain.

...who even was that man? He acted like he knew her and was spouting...the strangest things.

Who she was before she became Ladybug? Someone beneath the mask? He ‘knew’ her?

Ridiculous.

Clearly he had been suffering some ailment when he happened upon her.

She sighed.

It was unfortunate really. For a brief moment there, she had almost thought the man had known something valuable. He had seemed so earnest. And she could almost swear he seemed...familiar? Like she had met him somewhere before.

She rubbed her head, trying to recall. It wasn’t just this time or the one incident before. Maybe she had rescued him once? Maybe he was one of the civilians she had chatted with on some previous occasion? And that could be how he thought he knew her?

Maybe...

“Ladybug! LADYBUG!”

At the sound of someone calling for her, she stopped and turned around to see Chat running towards her. She was glad to see him again, but from his expression and the way he was running, it looked like this wasn’t a social visit.

“Chat? Is everything all right?” She asked once he had finally reached her. “Is there an akuma?”

“No! I mean yes! I mean—not exactly!” He shook his head. “Sorry, just…”

She couldn’t understand him through his babbling. Ladybug frowned and held her hands out, gesturing for his silence to get his attention.

“Chat, calm down and breathe. Then tell me what is wrong.”

To her further annoyance, he took a deep—somewhat exaggerated breath. If nothing else, however, it did serve to get him to settle and be able to speak normally.

“Listen, I think something may have gone wrong in the last akuma battle. Well—not the last one, but the last last one.”

…semi-normally.

At least she could understand him, at any rate.

Still, that was concerning. “What do you mean?”

She had stopped that akuma, hadn’t she?

“A friend of mine disappeared after that battle and never reappeared. Now she’s missing.”

“You mean that Marinette girl? Chat, it’s likely she may have run away.”

“NO. She didn’t. I was worried about that at first, but she wouldn’t and I was right. Other things are disappearing now! Everything of hers or that she had a hand in is literally fading away! She had to have been hit by that erasing akuma.”

“That’s impossible. The Miraculous Cure fixes all the damage caused by an akuma fight.”

“But Marinette hasn’t returned!”

“Then maybe she wasn’t involved with the akuma fight at all.”

“Her things are disappearing! Anything that reminds people of her are suddenly vanishing if people aren’t constantly watching them! That’s not normal! That’s magic.”

“Did you actually see anything disappear?”

He paused.

“Well—not directly myself, no.” He admitted, rubbing his head. “But a lot of people have said things are disappearing. And they all seem to be things she had some involvement or influence in.”

Marinette had come up with the idea for Rose’s journal after Chloe had insulted it. She had helped Juleka break her curse and take all those fun photos to make up for the class picture. Marc and Nathaniel’s comic only got started because Marinette had introduced them. And from what he saw at the bakery, the effect was expanding.

He froze, a creeping realization sinking in.

If it was expanding, just how much would be gone?

“But if you haven’t seen it, then how do you know that it’s an akuma?”

“But they said—”

She shook her head. “Chat, it could just be coincidence. People misplace things. Lose things. Throw things away and forget about them. It happens. That doesn’t make it noteworthy and doesn’t mean it’s magic. Sometimes, those things are just gone.”

“But they—”

“You have to face facts, Chat Noir. If she’s gone, she may not return.”

He’d had enough.

“What is WRONG with you?”

He had plenty of times where he felt annoyed or angry with Ladybug. When she rejected him. When she kept secrets. When she didn’t seem to take him seriously. Looking back, those instances seemed so incredibly petty compared to how he felt in this moment.

Never had he ever wanted to shake her the way he did now.

“A girl is missing! She is literally fading from existence and you don’t care!”

“Chat, you don’t even know that’s actually the case! There are other things to worry about right now!”

“This is a person’s LIFE AT STAKE!”

Ladybug simply looked unimpressed. “Everyone’s life is at stake against Hawk Moth, Chat! And you would have me put him on hold just for one person?”

“She isn’t just one person!”

She was a person! She had a name! And a family! And friends! And a dream! She was an up and coming designer! Jagged Stone’s artist! Their class representative! His classmate!

She...

She was his...

Now Ladybug looked almost...sad? Disappointed?

“You’re too attached to this girl to think about this objectively, Chat. You are letting your emotions cloud your judgement. As a hero, you need to be impartial.”

He grit his teeth.

He wanted to say something.

He wanted to say so much.

But instead, he turned tail and stormed off.

It was Ladybug. His partner. The person he would follow in any crisis. He knew to an extent that she had a point, because yeah, he had a tendency to act on his emotions rather than think things through. But...she sounded like she didn’t care.

What else could he do?

So he ran away.

But Ladybug...

She simply stood there. Her head tilted in confusion as she watched him go. She watched for a minute before she shrugged it off and turned away. She didn't try to go after him. Not once did she call out to him.

Her partner was running away from her...

...and she just let him.

______________________

Tom knew something was wrong.

It had been a busy day in the bakery. Despite the circumstances in the current situation with her daughter being missing, they couldn't just keep the bakery closed. After all, Marinette had to have a place to come back to at some point. And they needed to keep living.

But that didn't mean it wasn't hard.

Tom and Sabine had been torn. In their current state, they were hard pressed to keep the bakery running and also focus on efforts to find their daughter. It was even worse now that they had distinct reason to believe magic was involved.

It had been fortunate that both Gina and Rolland had been willing to put their differences and issues aside to come help. They had been a substantial support during this time. When Tom had reached out to them, Gina had cut short her trip to Peru to fly back to Paris and assist, mentioning using her connections to deal with some of the cartels in the area known for human trafficking on the chance they happened to be involved. And Rolland had taken to the traditional methods of posting Marinette’s MISSING picture at various locations.

Seeing the current situation with the parents, both had gone so far as to agree to help in the bakery. Gina had agreed to manage the storefront while Rolland had taken to helping in the kitchen. Surprisingly with minimal complaint about the bread. And even willing to close his own bakery in the meantime.

He was still difficult, but it was clear the man was trying. And he was more help than not.

This allowed Tom and Sabine to be able to breathe. There were points where one or the other would have to go to the back when things got to be too much. From the normal stress of the job itself to the pitying looks and questions they would sometimes get. And now to try to keep count of what else of their daughter’s had disappeared when they weren’t looking. Which meant they had taken to shifts during the night as well in hopes that their presence would slow down the process.

Sabine had been quite focused on this for the past few days, willing to leave the majority of the bakery work to the other three. But one could only spend so long staring at a box and a slowly emptying room, and she had eventually agreed to Tom’s pleas to just try to return to a regular work day if only to restore a sense of normalcy.

...he should have realized something was up the instant she had agreed.

She had switched with Gina in working the front and dealing with the customers. Plastering a perfect smile and jovial tone, as if her world wasn’t crumbling. He was concerned with her state, but Tom had wondered if this wasn’t her way of trying to cope. Sabine had long had a way of being a pillar of calm in any storm, so he had decided to trust in her.

But then there were the more...delicate customers.

Enrique Arnette was never an easy man to deal with. Pretentious, high-handed, and with a need to be catered to in a way that rivaled with Audrey Bourgeois. He could be her brother, all things considered. They were both loud and full of themselves. Only she, at least, had the power and capability to back her.

Unlike Audrey, Enrique was just loud. Loud and entitled. He was well known for being picky and making specific demands that some questioned might be less about what he actually wanted and more about looking for a reason to get upset and cause a fuss. But Tom and Sabine's Bakery seemed to be one of the few places capable of meeting his picky and overly extravagant standards.

Usually, Sabine was more than capable of handling him or any other contrary customer.

But today...

"What is this? Are you supposed to be a bakery or a crematorium?"

It was like nothing she did was satisfactory.

It might have been the stress getting to her. Tom would have believed that.

Except that the smile on her face was like ice. And her eyes were like steel. When he tried to step in to take over handling the order, Sabine clutched the plate in an iron grip. And as she looked up at him, her gaze was downright unnerving.

"Let me handle this."

Tom didn't dare disagree. He just watched and waited anxiously to the side as Sabine continued to try and fail to fulfill his order.

It was too cooked.

There was too much syrup.

The fruit was mashed.

The design was poorly done.

As Enrique became more frustrated, Tom noticed how Sabine neither stood up to the verbal tirade, nor did she apologize.

And his wife's expression was a knowing one.

It was...unusual for her. If he didn't know better...or maybe because he did know better, he couldn't stop himself from wondering if it was intentional?

The way she was messing up the order so many times was not like her, to the point he could swear it was on purpose. And her attitude and responses, while not outright rude, were not customer-friendly and were certainly far from her norm.

Was she...trying to upset him?

"What kind of service is this?!" The man demanded.

Tom stepped forward. "Dear, why don't I handle this and you can take a break, okay?"

But Sabine didn't even look at Tom. Her gaze remained fully on Enrique.

"If it is so displeasing to you, perhaps you would find service more befitting of your station in a dumpster?"

Everyone froze.

Sabine was many things. Matronly. Firm at times when needed. Soft at other times when it isn't. Fully willing to stand up to people.

But she was never rude. And she would never insult anyone like this.

Enrique’s face turned red in growing rage.

"What did you say?"

“Are you deaf?” She asked him congenially in a tone and manner as if she was commenting on the weather instead of actively insulting the man. “Or is there as much trash filling your ears as there is your mouth?”

Tom gaped momentarily before moving forward to intervene. “Sabine, why don’t you just—”

“HOW DARE YOU?!” Enrique shouted, almost on the verge of a shriek. “I have NEVER been so insulted in my life!”

“Then clearly people weren’t trying hard enough.” Sabine shot back derisively. “If you aren’t going to take your needlessly complicated and pretentious order, then get out and let someone else.”

Gasps and murmurs resounded.

He turned up his nose. “I won’t pay a euro for that mess or your attitude! If anything, you should be paying ME at this point for the insult! And trust me, I WILL be making you pay!”

Shouts of alarm got Tom’s attention, along with the sound of wings.

“Oh no!”

And akuma had gotten into the store, no doubt attracted to Enrique’s indignation as it fluttered its way towards the irate man.

Except that in the second before the akuma could reach him and assimilate into his watch—

SLAM!

Sabine had caught the akuma in midair before it could reach Enrique, her hand covered in an old worn oven mitt.

Everyone jerked back in shock and growing horror.

But Tom just stared in sorrowful realization.

He recognized that mitt. It was one of the first things Marinette had made and gifted to her mother.

It was one of her few possessions that remained.

One that Sabine had refused to part with.

"No." He murmured. "Sabine. Honey, no.”

His wife couldn't hear him.

The glowing mask was indicative that it was already too late.

[chocoluckchipz]

A Soulmate for Christmas - 3

< Previous

"Dupain-Cheng. We need to talk."

Marinette stopped breathing, sinking deeper under the desk. 

Chloe groaned and took a few steps away. "Don't make me get down there and drag you out. And next time, make sure you aren't hiding right in front of a mirror. Be thankful I didn't out you to Adrien."

Marinette glared at her reflection peeking out from a corner of the mostly covered mirror she’d failed to notice. 

"I suppose you want my gratitude for your generosity?" she huffed, climbing out of her hiding spot to face her old nemesis.

"I’ll do without, but let’s make one thing clear—I did it for Adrien, not you."

"Oh really? I fail to see how this benefits him since, you know, he wanted to find me."

Chloe smirked and looked Kagami’s way. Marinette followed her gaze, only now noticing how intently Kagami was watching her. 

"So, this is her?"

"Unfortunately."

Matching smirks on their lips, Kagami’s eyes held restrained curiosity. Chloe’s? Disbelief. 

Marinette could feel the weight of their judgement increase with each passing second. She scoffed. This crap was tiring to deal with back in the lycée. Now it wasn’t even worth the fight. "Listen, I doubt either of you want me to come in and mess up whatever thing you three have going on, so how about you tell Adrien you mistook me for someone else, the waitress he spoke to was not Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and we all walk our separate ways?"

Kagami folded her arms over her chest, arching an eyebrow. "What about Adrien?"

"What about him?"

"He’s your soulmate."

"He’s engaged to you."

"Did you hear anything we said here?"

"Didn’t have much of a choice."

"Then, you’re aware that we’re faking it. There is nothing but friendship between us."

"So I’ve heard."

"And you still want to walk away?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She’s always been weird," Chloe snipped. "Adrien deserves better."

Marinette scoffed. "No one deserves a soulmate who humiliates them in front of the whole country."

"You can’t really pick your soulmate, you know," Kagami said. 

"But I can walk away from one who respects neither me nor our bond. Fake or not, he chose to be with you. I’m not going to interfere. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back work." 

Kagami grabbed Marinette’s hand before she could take a step. "You don’t understand. It’s not something he’s doing because he doesn’t respect or want you. Adrien’s practically saving my life with this, risking everything he ever wanted to do so."

Marinette almost laughed. "How is fake dating saving your life, Mlle Tsurugi? Fake dating is for fiction, a good book for a lonely evening or a movie to laugh with friends about. In the real world, in our modern society, it's irrelevant. And especially for someone as powerful and influential as you. You don't need to fake date. You can just say a word and all your problems will float away."

Kagami’s grip on Marinette’s hand tightened as she seethed through her teeth. "You have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Oh, don’t I? I’ve spent enough years in the same class with Chloe to see how people in your circle solve their problems."

"You shouldn’t put everyone in the same basket." Chloe stepped in, wrapping her arm around Kagami’s shoulder. She leaned closer to Kagami, their cheeks starting to glow at the contact, Kagami’s with a bee mark, Chloe’s with a dragon. 

To say Marinette was surprised was an understatement. 

"Just because we live in different circles doesn’t mean our lives are easy or that our problems always go away with a snap of our fingers," Chloe continued. "If you want to think of me like that, fine. Whatever. But not Adrien and certainly not Kagami." 

"I still fail to see the reason why someone would need to fake date." 

Before Chloe could start talking, Kagami cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Marinette, would you mind hearing me out? If you still want to walk away after what I have to tell you, neither of us will stop you."

Perhaps, this was the quickest way to get this over with. Maybe, she was curious herself as to what was going on between the three of them. Whatever it was, Marinette pulled up a chair, sat down and waited.

Kagami settled on a couch while Chloe leaned on its arm. "I was born and raised in Japan in a very conservative family where traditions were the law and whoever broke them was excommunicated forever. When I was fifteen, my mother and I moved to France, and I got to know the more liberal approach to life the French follow. I met Adrien through our parents’ business dealings. We became friends, and for the first time ever, someone could understand me, the life I was living, and the feelings I was suppressing. He wasn’t in any better of a situation at the time, but at least I was allowed to attend a private school. Adrien was kept locked inside his mansion. Later, I met Chloe and discovered the soulmate bond we shared. I was happy for the first time in my life. That is until my mother decided I had to marry one of her business partners’ sons for the sake of the family’s interests."

"A much older male," Chloe scoffed, scratching her nose. "Disgusting."

"Fifteen years older," Kagami confirmed. "And he lives in Japan which meant I would be forced to move back and lose not only my friends but also my soulmate. I would be expected to be an obedient, silent wife for the rest of my life, confined to looking after the house and birthing as many children as my husband wished."

"Ridiculous!" Chloe huffed. "Utterly ridiculous."

Kagami patted Chloe’s hand in a comforting gesture. "Perhaps if I’d never moved to France I would have gone along with her plans without complaining. However, after I had a taste of freedom and saw how happy I can be, I knew I couldn’t give up all of this. Give up Adrien and Chloe. Give up my dreams for the future. So, I panicked and said I was already secretly dating someone and didn’t tell her only because I wanted to make sure it was serious. Mother would’ve never agreed to let me stay if that person wasn’t from her list of approved potential spouses. A list made up of very influential and wealthy people. Adrien was one of them."

"He’s on the list of every Parisian mother." Chloe huffed. "Sucks to be him."

"I couldn’t say Chloe’s name," Kagami continued. "Mother isn't against same-sex relationships, but she considers them just ‘practice’ for the ‘real ones’ because, apparently,  I need a man as a life partner."

"As I said, ridiculous."

"So, I said Adrien’s name, then begged him to play along. We never thought it would get out of our circle. We even developed a plan for how to get me out unscathed and free. Adrien and I were supposed to only play a couple until my birthday in November when I became a legal adult by Japanese law. When that happened, I started transferring my funds to accounts my mother had no access to so I could walk away freely. But that takes time, and two weeks ago she found out and demanded an explanation for the transactions. She threatened to send me back to Japan immediately if she didn’t approve of what I had in mind. The transfers weren’t done yet and she had enough influence to stop it.

"I freaked out again and said Adrien and I were getting married, so I was gathering my personal funds into my own account that I planned to join with my husband’s after the wedding. I told her we were waiting for a special occasion to announce the engagement. She wasn’t buying it. She gave me a week to prove my words. She put a hold on all the transfers until then. It was Adrien who suggested we take it to the media. That way, she wouldn't doubt us, and she’d be somewhat pressured to let me stay in France, at least for the time being. Once the article was out, my mother released the funds, and as of last night, I’m a free woman.

"No one was ever going to announce an engagement. My things are being packed as we speak while my mother and I are out of the house. I won’t be going home with her. I’m moving in with Chloe, and, thanks to Adrien, I’m not doing so without a penny to my name. Adrien never meant to hurt you. He never looked any other woman's way. All he wanted was to help a friend." 

There wasn’t much Marinette could do but remain frozen in her seat, stunned at Kagami’s words. Her defences down, she hated to admit that everything Kagami had said made sense. There was a reason. A reason good enough to justify this whole thing. She couldn't hold this against Adrien. Heck, if any of Marinette’s friends were in Kagami’s shoes, she’d be fake proposing to them too. So, if everything that Kagami had told her was true, then…

"Marinette," Kagami spoke more gently, watching her with a lot less hostility. "For as long as I’ve known Adrien, every summer, every vacation he got, he was travelling to Milan, attending every fashion show and just wandering the streets in hopes of finding you. He painted over and publicly revealed his soulmate mark only because he’s desperate at this point. His father’s been pressuring him to date for publicity for years. He gave him a break when he thought we were a couple, but that ends tonight. And let me tell you, Gabriel Agreste is not the person to care for Adrien’s feelings and desires. He’ll make his life a living hell if Adrien continues to refuse to comply. Please, Marinette. Give him a chance. He deserves it."

"I’m giving him your number as a Christmas present tomorrow," Chloe spoke up. "You have until then to think about it. Let’s go, Kagami. It’s time to set Adrien free and show the world who your soulmate truly is."

"Right." Kagami stood up, giving Marinette one last glance. "The choice is yours, but you’d be a fool to walk away from a man like him. They don’t come as kind, loyal and loving as he is these days."

The door behind the pair closed, leaving only the sound of Marinette’s heart echoing in her ears. She could hardly move. If everything she’d just learned was true, she owed Adrien an apology and, if he wanted one, she owed him a chance. Because while she would definitely want a chance with the man Kagami had just described, she had to wonder if she deserved one at all. 

With a sigh, she stood up and headed back towards the kitchen. 

Later. She’d find him later. First, she had a job to finish and sweets to serve. The rest would have to wait. They’d waited for years. What would be another few hours?

Next >

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[airi-p4]

While it lasts

This was supposed to be kind of a S4 theory about akumatized Luka + a canon-verse Lukanette approach. I guess my hand slipped?  This is similar to my previous fic ‘Betrayer’, in which Juleka was the akumatized one. 

Warning: ANGST.

AO3 _________________________

"Jagged Stone is your father" Anarka had just told her twin children.

Luka's world was shattered into pieces.

Jagged Stone. His favorite musician. His inspiration. His mother's old music partner.

Their father.

One word occupies his mind: abandoned.

And the image of him takes a 180 degree turn. From admiration to despise.

His idol abandoned him. Him and his sister. His mother too.

Why?

He hates it. He hates all of it.

He hates it so much, not even his girlfriend Marinette can calm him down like she usually does. Not even her sympathetic voice or her sweet heart melody can heal him. Neither could her hand pressed on his in comfort.

Juleka's mind had gone blank for some seconds. Memories of how fond Luka was of Jagged Stone occupying her mind. 'Cool', she thinks, and then she focuses on her brother, who is clearly in shock.

In silence. In a trance.

He can't hear anything anymore, she realizes, after noticing how he isn't paying attention to either Marinette's, her mother's or her own calls.

His heart song is strident, loud, noisy- And his eyes lose all his light, all his kindness too.

'Abandoned'

This word keeps spiraling in his mind. On repeat. In an infinite loop.

"Luka!" He hears Marinette's voice call him in alert, finally making him snap out of it and find the strength to fight the akuma that just entered his guitar.

“Marinette… Don’t abandon me…” he begs, holding her while fighting not to lose control and fall under Shadow Moth's control.

“I won’t”, she assures him, clearly supporting him. She keeps encouraging him not to fall into the darkness of the dark butterfly.

Her melody is sincere. So sincere she can’t hide her still unburied feelings for certain blond hair and green eyes that make her heart flutter. And he can see it: the moment that is bound to happen, the moment Marinette will break up with him to go to Adrien. The moment all walls separating them will collapse and they will meet each other in the tangled maze of secrets they’re currently trapped in. The crumble of the castle that allowed him the miracle to have her by his side at this moment.

“You won’t” he whispers, feeling his biggest fear close: Silence- loneliness.

Abandoned.

His arms tighten around her, holding her even closer, impeding her from moving. He pulls her so close he's even hurting her a little. Marinette slightly protests in a cry, but she’s more emotionally affected than physically. "Luka-!"

She's scared.

She wants to assure him she’s honest. She wishes to be able to give him all her love, her existence-

And his newly appeared akuma form is willing to take it all.

His guitar is now a big fish net, his body has grown 3 times bigger and his looks are similar to a sea God. ‘Glaucus’, he calls himself. The name of the God of the fishermen in Greek mythology. His hair is longer, and his belly has become a transparent fish tank, where he plans to keep his loved ones, both safe and close so they don’t abandon him.

Punishment for the ones who abandon, lie and betray.

Protection for the loved ones.

'Justice', he calls it.

He doesn’t even need a big fish tank, because his loved ones are limited. A countable number of individuals is enough for him: Marinette, his mother, his twin sister, the rest of Kitty Section… Mylène too, maybe, since he would feel bad for Ivan if he left her out of it. And he would consider Marinette's family too, since he knows how much she appreciates them.

As for punishment? It's also clear: Jagged Stone comes first, followed by Lila Rossi among others who have dared to hurt his loved ones, such as Chloe Bourgeois and Bob Roth.

Marinette trembles at the vision after he finally lets her go of her to grab his fish catching instrument. A tear escapes her eye, and slides to fall from her chin. And then she runs: because that’s the only way she can help him: run, transform, defeat him and fix the damage she will fight to prevent from happening.

But she's ignoring the most important fact. The fact that that's exactly the action which will lead to her down fall, the sight that frightens Luka the most: Marinette turning her back to him, leaving him all alone.

His song abandoning him.

Rage, pain and despair fills his heart, unable to be contained with his meditation or her music. The music he himself turned into a loud mess, sounding just like nails scraping on a chalkboard, painful to his ears and his soul.

And that’s when he traps her, his net capturing her and turning her into a small, bright pink colored mermaid, he literally swallows to get her inside the fish tank he carries inside his transparent glass made belly.

A relieved sigh leaving his throat: Marinette is now secured. She won't leave his side again. ‘Who’s next…?’ He questions himself, looking at his horrified mother, Anarka as he smirks. He'll soon have all of them in his treasured fish tank.

And what will happen to those who deserve punishment? Fish out of the water- dry fins gasping for oxygen. Dead fish with eyes as cold as their hearts. Or even better- Jagged is going to be abandoned on his own before that- just like he cold-heartedly abandoned him and his sister.

And now that he mentions it… 'Where's Juleka?'

The akuma looks for her, but he doesn't see her around. 'She can wait' he decides, his chants summoning a big sea wave to carry him to his unwanted father's hotel suite.

__________

Jagged Stone can't believe his eyes. An akuma claiming to be his son has just turned Penny into a goldfish, who is now struggling with tiny desperate jumps for oxygen to breathe through her newly acquired fins. Impossible without water. Fang is next to join Jagged's personal assistant, now tiny and convulsing.

"Who are you!? Why are you doing this!? I have no kids!! Don't lie!! Stop this! Turn them to their original forms! They could die!" The rock star angrily begs under Glaucus lashes.

"You're the one who is lying! My mother never lies, so you are the one lying when you say you have no children! You're the one who abandoned us!" He yells as angry as Jagged. "All the admiration and respect I had for you is now hate and disgust! You deserve punishment for the sake of Justice!"

"Stop right there, mermaid boy. Didn't we already make it clear what the difference between revenge and justice was when you were 'Silencer'?" Chat Noir joined the battle, protecting Jagged from being crushed under the akuma's weapon.

The akuma attacks again, but this time he's stopped by someone else. Someone Chat Noir brought along with him- a new superhero.

_______

During the time Marinette was trapped, Tikki, safe and sound, had carried a Miraculous to Juleka, who was watching terrified at how the events developed on TV. She was too focused to notice the kwami, but she clearly noticed the box that fell on her hand out of nowhere. Reaching it, she curiously opened it, and a magical creature appeared in front of her.

"Hi there! I'm Roarr. It's nice to meet you, Juleka!" The little tiger introduced himself.

"What are you? What's going on?" Juleka questioned.

"I'm a kwami. I grant powers! Put on that jewelry and call for the magical words to transform into a superhero"

"Me? A superhero like Ladybug? I don't think I can-" she nervously mumbled, unconfident.

"The guardian chose you for this mission! You want to save your brother, right?" Juleka nodded. "Then say the words: Roarr, transform me"

"Roarr, transform me" Juleka said, and magic surrounded her. Her new appearance was purple with tiger-like orange colored stripes over her body. Her mask was the same colors of the suit, and a pair of tiny ears decorated her now tied hair, her ponytail loose in the wind.

Moments later, she ran towards the hotel, unknowingly followed by Ladybug's kwami.

And the battle started.

________________

"Luka! I know you're hurt, but Jagged is telling the truth! He never abandoned u- you! He never knew he was a father! He probably doesn't even know by now!" The new hero desperately yelled.

"Lies! All lies! He deserves punishment! And you do too!" The akuma points at the heroes and Jagged who is hiding behind them.

"I'll show you the truth!" The tigress announces, calling for her superpower.

Her claws become shiny and with one touch, she marks an ‘X’ on Jagged's forehead, and a purple cloud comes out of his mouth and surrounds them, as if they had just entered his dreamland- except it's, in fact, the rock star’s memories.

Luka is in denial. It is true. Jagged Stone never knew about them. Which means he abandoned them unknowingly. Was he innocent, though?

No, he wasn’t. Because he had indeed abandoned his mother.

_______

Meanwhile, Marinette had been trying to find a way out of the fish tank. She couldn't transform into Ladybug even if Tikki was free, because that would make her identity public. She needed another plan.

That's when she asked Tikki to get Juleka the tiger Miraculous- and it had, once again, been the right choice.

Marinette couldn't just stay still,watching. She fought to find a way out.

Making use of the constant moving water, and with Anarka and Kitty Section's help, she found a way up, arriving to his heart. Or was it the akuma’s heart? It didn’t matter to her as long as she could save him.

The sight was not what she had expected: a vast sea surrounded by colorful stained glass with the people he cared the most portrayed on them. Anarka, Juleka and Kitty Section were there. Big, colorful and shining bright.

Marinette continued swimming in his inner tormented sea of darkness until she found another glass under a cliff: hers. It looked beautiful, but unreachable, since a rose garden guarded and protected it. Untouchable beauty.

Was this Luka's vision of her? A beautiful flower surrounded by thorns, with green stains on paint messing with the almost perfect piece of art’s balance and making it painful to watch?

Marientte felt her heart ache in guilt.

She knew she was the cause of the hurt in his eyes which he sometimes looked at her with. He had always seen through her, despite how much she had been starting to believe her own lies about ‘moving on’ and ‘love’.

Marinette shook her head: no time to waste. Cry later. Focus now.

Her tail brought her to a cliff island with a broken stained glass window next to it. The one that belonged to Jagged Stone, as his name was written on a rock. It most likely broke at the revelation of Jagged being Luka’s father, but now the window was pitch black, with the pieces scattered on the floor. Silent.

She could feel his fears of being abandoned in her own skin, and froze at the realization: his endurance and his strength were only there thanks to music. A music his heart lacked at the moment.

Music.

That's the answer. Music was what healed his heart. This time too, he needed music.

But what could she do without musical knowledge? Or without any instrument to play?

'My voice' she notices. ‘I still have my voice’

Marinette starts singing her own heart song as composed by Luka, while the battle outside continues, now with their visit to Jagged Stone's memories.

Perfect timing.

And clouds appear over Jagged's glass window, the wind carrying some pieces back to its original place- partly reconstructed.

Maybe the mermaid form had another purpose, Marinette wonders. Maybe Luka couldn't completely let go of music, after all, whether he was akumatized or not. Or maybe...

Back to present, Marinette sees a light up that lifts her out of Luka's insides. Next time she blinks, she has recovered her original appearance- clumsy human girl Marinette.

"Run!" Chat Noir commands, and she obeys. As she runs, she gazes back at Luka, who shows her a painfully sad smile.

"Marinette!" Her kwami calls her before she can give it deeper thought. "Tikki! Spots on!"

Moments later, Ladybug makes it to the battle. "Lucky charm!"

____________

The battle ends soon. Too soon, to Ladybug's surprise. ‘Why did he offer no resistance?’

She'll have time to think about this later. First… "Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug rushed to recover Juleka's Miraculous so they could go back to Luka as soon as possible.

"Thank you, Ladybug" Juleka says, running off to hug her brother.

Marinette detransforms next and soon reaches them too. But she hesitates again. Should she be by his side when she hurts him so much?

Luka meets her gaze and smiles softly, apologetically and embarrassed, but clearly welcoming her. And she doesn't hesitate anymore to join their collective hug, melting in love after a swirl of emotions. They part from the hug and they all focus on Jagged Stone who is still processing what happened.

"Wait a second- Are you really my children…? You thought I abandoned you…?” Jagged asks the twins, before turning his head to Anarka. “Why didn't you tell me? Weren't we partners? 'Rock-'n'-roll until the crocodile controls'. Remember?"

"You said you wanted to go solo. You left me behind. Did you really expect me to go back to you after the humiliation I suffered? I gave you my heart and you threw me away as soon as you could!" Anarka yelled.

"I was young and immature, and not the best father figure, I admit it! But I deserved to know! You should have told me!"

"I'm telling you now! They are your children, Luka and Juleka. If you ever want to meet them, you know where we live. Don’t you ever come back if you plan to abandon them later" Anarka says, grabbing her children's shoulders and guiding them to move out of the hotel room with a push.

"I'm sorry…" Luka mumbles to Jagged, before leaving the room.

"I'm the one who is sorry…" Jagged admits to Marinette before she runs to follow the Couffaines and Kitty Section. “I’ll go visit sometime! I promise!”

“Are you ok, Luka?” Marinette asks after leaving through the hotel doors, seeing how Jagged is looking at them from the highest balcony.

“I will be. Eventually…” he returns his gaze down to focus on Marinette, reaching to hold her hand. “I don’t need Jagged’s music as long as I can listen to yours''

Marinette feels her cheeks burn.

________________________

On their way home, Marinette can’t take what she’s seen out of her head. ‘It was Luka's heart, right? And Luka’s true feelings. He truly loves me’, she realized. ‘But why…?’

With an instant of bravery, Marinette pulls Luka's hand to separate themselves from the rest of his family and friends.

"Luka… I- Am I painful to be with? To watch?" She bites her lip a bit and asks in terror. “Am I hurting you?”

"Of course not, Marinette. Never.” Luka assures her with a soft, faint smile. “You're more than I could ever ask for. You're the most beautiful song I've ever heard"

"Even if I have those unbearable to watch green stains...?" she whispers, embarrassed and angry at herself for not being able to make her feelings go according to her wishes.

"It can’t be helped, can it? And even if that’s the case, for me, you’re still the most beautiful despite those colors"

“Is my heart song really enough to cover for that ugliness? I hate it myself…”

“You shouldn’t. Imperfections can enhance beauty. I don’t mind them as long as I can hear your song up close” he answers.

“But-! Are you sure…? Aren’t you afraid I might end up abandoning you?” she finally asks, scared for his answer.

“I am. I’m terrified” he admits. “But how am I supposed to stand in the way of your wishes- your happiness? I can’t and I won’t do that” Luka shrugs, “Aren’t you scared of being abandoned too?”

“I am” she answers, after giving it some thought. “and that’s not the main reason for it, but I want to stay by your side” she realizes, “more than ever”.

Luka squeezes her hand and shows her a soft expression. “Thank you for always saving me. Akumatized or not,” he whispers to her ear. It surprises Marinette to see how his cheeks are pink over his fond smile.

“No-! I- I just sang a song and- It was all thanks to the new her-” she stopped herself. Luka couldn’t possibly remember what happened when he was akumatized. No one told him, no one showed him the news. He couldn’t know he turned her into a mermaid, or how she sang. Yet he thanked her for saving him.

‘Of course he knows’ Marinette understands. ‘Yet he didn’t reveal me to Shadow Moth and he let me go on purpose, too’. Her thoughts deepen. ‘I get it now’ she reaches her conclusion. ‘He wanted me to save him. He wanted me to take him back after he realized he was on the wrong side. It makes sense. He protected me despite being akumatized once again- like when he was Silencer’.

The girl’s feet stop walking for a moment at the revelation, causing Luka to look back at her. Taking one step closer, she raises on her tiptoes and gives Luka a kiss on his lips, surprising both of them.

‘I wonder what kind of music his heart is hearing now,’ she wonders, ‘because I can only hear a grateful and sincere happy tune in my own heart right now’

“Your heartsong is beautiful” she finishes with a smile he reciprocates.

Most likely, both of them knew deep inside that their relationship as it was now was bound to end at some point, sooner or later. Maybe both of them would always be afraid of loneliness and being abandoned, too. But wasn’t it enough to enjoy the music they created in that instant, while it lasts? Isn’t it the same with live concerts? They might end, but the sensations last forever in memories. Is it something to regret? Neither of them felt it was. And perhaps both of them secretly agreed with that logic as they continued walking hand in hand, enjoying each other's company and welcoming their mutual love and support, in whatever form their relationship changes into in the future.

[saltywhovian]

seven minutes in heaven is hard when there’s four people in the closet

Marinette loved Alya. She was her best friend, her confidant, her rock. But Marinette was going to strangle Alya. She was going to murder Alya, ressurect her, and then murder her again. If she made it out of this closet without being suffocated to death. But hey, being suffocated during Seven Minutes in Heaven is such a good way to die. 

                                                  Earlier

“Marinette! I’m having a little sleepover tonight, nothing fancy, just a few friends, some chips, some bad movies, will you pleaaaase come??” 

Marinette glances over at Alya, who is practically down on her knees begging Marinette to come to the sleepover. “Alya, I-” Marinette makes eye contact with Alya, who has become the literal definition of puppy eyes. Marinette sighs, and grabs her phone. “You know what, I deserve a night off. I’ve been working myself too hard. Let me ask my parents.”

After getting a positive answer from her parents, Marinette gives Alya a thumbs up. Alya squeals, and throws her arms around Marinette. “Girl, you won’t regret it!”

“Okay weirdo,” Marinette chuckles. “Let me finish this homework.”

As Alya walks away, she grins to herself. 

She goes up to Nino and Adrien, and after planting a big kiss on Nino’s cheek, she turns to the boys. “Hey, I’m having a sleepover, do you two want to come?”

Nino nods, and Adrien furrows his brow. “I’ll have to clear it up with Nathalie and my father,” 

Alya interrupts him with a grin. “Uh-uh my friend. I already got approval from Nathalie. You can check with her right now.

Adrien, who is even more confused, pulls out his phone, dialing Nathalie. 

“Hey, um, Alya invited me to a sleepover, and-” he stammers.

“Yes, I am aware of Ms. Cesaire’s get together. You already have your father and I’s consent to attend. But of course, it is your choice on whether or not you go.” Nathalie responds.

“No, no, I want to go! Th- Thank you Nathalie.”

“Have fun Adrien.”

Adrien turns to Alya, amazement in his eyes. “How? Just- how??” 

Alya walks away dramatically, calling over her shoulder, “A magician never reveals her secrets.”

After inviting Alix and Rose, Alya goes to Juleka. “Hey girl, I’m having a little sleepover tonight, do you and your brother want to come?”

Juleka smiles, and shoots a text to Luka. “He would love to come.”

Alya smiles slowly. And that makes four.

You see, Alya was smart. And although everyone except for Adrien knew about Marinette’s “little” crush, Alya knew there was more. Because whenever Kagami was around Adrien, Marinette would get jealous whenever they touched each other. Not just if Kagami initiated the touching, but if Adrien did too. And whenever Marinette was with Luka, they were gentle, they were the same in a quiet kind of way.

So Alya dug a little more. She grilled Adrien enough to know that he’s head over heels for Marinette, just in denial.  She then accomplished the harder task, figuring out Kagami’s feelings. It took nearly a month of careful plotting, and finally, finally got Kagami to admit that she wanted to take Marinette into her arms, and.. Alya stopped Kagami there. 

And then she dug more. Kagami and Adrien weren’t hard to figure out. And the moments that Luka and Adrien shared were so sweet, Alya thought she might get diabetes. As for Kagami, and Luka? There was definitely something there. It just needed a little push. 

Alya did such a good job figuring this all out, she was considering a career as a detective. So with all this information, what was she going to do?

Well she was going to scheme. But she couldn’t do this by herself. So she enlisted Nino, and then after some careful thought, she pulled Juleka into the planning.

After another two weeks, they had a plan. Operation Seven Minutes was a go.

Honestly, the hardest part was convincing Kagami and Adriens parents to let their children attend a co-ed sleepover. Alya went to Nathalie first. She explained that Kagami would be there, and that they would be doing meditation, to relax and tame their emotions due to stress of everyday life. She said that it would be beneficial and would allow Adrien to focus more on his duties. Nathalie gave her a smile, and told her that Adrien had her permission to attend the sleepover. For Kagami, it involved simply stating that Adrien Agreste would be in attendance, and Gabriel Agreste approved of the affair. Ms. Tsurugi approved immediately. 

So she invited the four, and a few others to create less awkwardness in the room, so she could trick the idiots into a false sense of security. 

Technically the main objective of Operation Seven Minutes was to get the four idiots together, but the true objective was for Alya to live all her shipping fantasies and be as amused as she can possibly be. 

She sends a text to Operation Seven Minutes.

Red -The birds are in the bush

Purple - What?

Green - Everyone’s coming.

Purple - Why couldn’t Alya just say that?

Red - Code names, Purple!

Purple - They’re kinda dumb

Green - She’s got a point, babe

Red - Whatever, whatever. Time for Phase 3.

Evening

Marinette rings the doorbell at Alya’s place, face slightly flushed at her late arrival. Alya opens the door, and pulls Marinette in. “There you are, girl! I got worried for a second that you weren’t coming!”

“I’m so sorry Alya, there was an emergency at the bakery…” Marinette trails off as she takes in the people in the room. Nino and Alix are engaged in fervent conversation that’s no doubt involving some extreme dare, Juleka and Rose cuddling, and…

Adrien, Luka and Kagami all sitting together looking mildly awkward. Scratch that, really awkward. 

Marinette slowly turns to Alya, her face twitching. Before the situation escalates, Alya snatches Marinette’s bag and yeets it into a corner.

“Alright, gather round, gather round!” Alya beckons. “Now that Marinette’s here, we’re going to play Uno!”

Marinette balks at the circle, unsure on where to sit. Kagami tugs at Marinette's sleeve, indicating a spot in between her and Luka. “Sit next to me Marinette.”

Marinette smiles, which the team notices, thanks to a nudge in the ribs from Alya. “O-Okay Kagami.”

Luka makes a small wave at Marinette as she settles in. “I’m glad you’re here, Marinette.”

Adrien leans over from Luka’s other side. “Me too!”

Kagami gently scoots in closer to Marinette, leaning into the conversation. “I as well Marinette. I always seem to enjoy myself when you’re around.”

Marinette is practically speechless, already furiously flushing. Nino, Alya and Juleka fist bump, whispering “Pound it!”

Uno goes better than Alya could ever imagine. Sure Alix is another +4 away from murdering someone, but that was a foreseen circumstance. No, Alya is very pleased because the four have been slowly snuggling closer and closer to each other. And because of how competitive Marinette gets, she is no longer stuttering around anyone. 

Kagami looks at Marinette, her eyes gleaming in regret. “Marinette, I’m so sorry, I have no other card..” She places the +4 card down. “I hope you can find it in your heart to ever forgive me.”

Marinette meets Kagami’s eyes, her own filled with understanding. “It’s okay Kagami, I know you would never willingly betray me. Besides, you’ve given me the perfect opportunity.”

Luka looks at Marinette in alarm, clutching his three card deck to his chest. “Marinette, you couldn’t. You- you wouldn’t!”

Marinette shrugs, looking nonchalant, but a smirk is threatening to break through her casual expression. “I’m sorry Luka, but you are a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

“Marinette, it doesn’t have to be like this!”

“Oh but it does.” She slams the +4 card down on top of Kagami's card. “Uno.”

Luka stares at the card, disbelief taking his body. Adrien rubs his back, mourning the defeat.

Marinette tenderly places a hand on Luka’s face. “I’m sorry it had to be like this. Maybe in another lifetime it would work. But it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.” 

Luka gasps at the touch, much to Juleka’s delight. But before he can respond, Alix leaps to her feet, eyes raging, pillow in hand. “I’ve had enough! This means war!” Alix then swings the pillow into Ninos face, knocking him to the floor. 

The room erupts into chaos. Everyone scrambles to grab a pillow, and attack the foes around them. Adrien immediately jumps in front of Marinette, acting as a human shield. “Marinette stay back!” he yells. “I’ll protect you!” 

On the ground, Marinette looks up at Adrien, who is practically glowing in the fluorescent lighting, framed by feathers floating around them. The moment is ruined by Adrien being shunted to the couch by a pillow to the ribs. Marinette rushes to his side and clutches his hand. “Adrien! Are you okay?”

He looks up to her, and hands her his pillow. Marinette nods, determination in her eyes. “I’ll avenge you.” 

She rushes into battle, the power of the past Ladybugs flowing through her veins. Kagami and Luka, who are currently fighting back to back, can only watch in awe as Marinette, crowned with righteous fury, slams her pillow in Ninos stomach, causing him to fall into Alya.

 “Oh girl I’ll get you for that!” she cries, hoisting her pillow into the air.

In a blink, Kagami rushes to block Alya. While engaged in a furious standoff with Alya, she cries “Luka, now!”

Alya looks back to see Luka leaping into the air with his pillow above his head.

From the couch, Adrien yells “Finish her Luka!”

And finish her he does. With one final blow, Alya is struck to the ground. The battle ends with Luka and Kagami flanking Marinette, while their friends lay fallen around them. 

Rose looks up, and starts laughing. “I think that’s a good segway to pajamas, huh?” 

Marinette fidgets with her pajamas, displeased with her selection. She had picked them based on the thought that it was just going to Alya, Rose and Alix, so she’s wearing a silky tank top and short combo that she made herself. The pink tank top sometimes rides up to show a little stomach, and the shorts show way too much leg than she is comfortable letting Luka, Adrien and Kagami see.  “Alya,” Marinette hisses under her breath. “I cannot go out in this!”

Alya tugs a stubborn Marinette into the other room. “Girl, relax. Once you see what everyone else is wearing, you’ll calm down.”

Marinette doesn’t exactly calm down, per say. She doesn’t really notice what Alix and Nino are wearing, but sees that Rose and Juleka are matching. But she stops right in her tracks when she sees her crushes. 

Kagami, who is watching Luka and Adrien squabble, is wearing the prettiest red nightgown Marinette has ever seen. It’s big and billowy, falls right above her knees, and the puffy sleeves give Kagami this innocent yet beautiful look. Kagami rushes to Marinette’s side, clutching her arm. Marinette is trying, and failing to ignore how Kagami's fingers feel against her bare skin. 

“They’re fighting because they’re matching,” Kagami whispers into Marinette’s ear. 

Marinette finally looks at Adrien and Luka, and almost faints. Luka and Adrien are both wearing Ladybug onesies, both with hoods and feet, and are in a heated argument over the matching.

“I’m just saying that you should change because I’m the biggest Ladybug fan.” Adrien argues. “I’m literally Chat Noir- I mean in the animated movie.”

“Any true fan knows that the movie sucked,”  Luka counters. “Just because you are ‘Chat Noir’,” he mocks with air quotes, “Doesn’t entitle you to the title of the biggest Ladybug fan.”

Marinette whispers back to Kagami, “I should probably intervene before this cat fight gets ugly.” Shouldering her way inbetween the onesie clad boys, she gives both of them a stern glare, silencing them. “Boys, you’re both pretty. Besides, I think Chloe wins that title. She literally has an expensive Ladybug cosplay, wig and all.” 

The boys nod in agreement, mostly distracted by Marinette’s choice in pajamas. Luka hates to prove the “boys are distracted by girls shoulders” stereotype, but he cannot stop staring. There’s something about the dip from her next to the shoulder that just makes him…

“Alright, losers, let’s play some truth and dare!” Alix’s challenge breaks the spell. The boys and Marinette sit down where they are, and Kagami joins them at Adrien’s side. “Alright, Rose, truth or dare?”

Rose blinks at the question, weighing the options. “Truth!”

“If you could kiss anyone in this room, who would you kiss?”

Without any hesitation, Rose blurts out “Juleka!” 

Juleka, who is settled in at her side, slowly turns to Rose, her face the same shade as Rose’s pjs. “Um, really?”

Rose, who is also bright pink, nods, and pulls Juleka into the hall. The rest of the room sits in silence until the two come back a few minutes later. 

Juleka breaks the silence. “We’re dating now.” 

The room, once again erupts into chaos. Luka rushes to his sister, crying about how proud he is, Alix to Rose saying that it’s all thanks to her. In the chaos, someone bumps into Marinette, causing her to tumble right smack into Kagami. Thanks to some cruel twist of misfortune, Marinette’s hands… are dangerously close to where they shouldn’t be. Marinette flings herself back, stammering out apologies, but Kagami silences her with a hand and a smile. 

“Marinette, I know you would never purposely do anything to me,” Kagami assures Marinette. “You are pure and true. That’s why..” 

But Kagami never finishes her sentence. With a roar, Alya silences the room. “Okay, we can all agree that we all just witnessed something beautiful. Now let’s get back to Truth or Dare.” She peers around the room, eyes landing on Adrien. “Adrien, truth or dare?”

“Uh… dare?” the blonde answers.

“I dare you to sit in Luka’s lap until dared to move.”

Adrien is practically red. “I, uh, erm…”

Alix whoops, “You’ve got to do, blondie. A dare’s a dare!”

So Adrien makes his way over to Luka. “Are you okay with this, Luka?” Adrien asks, desperate to not be placed in this situation.

Luka, who most definitely wants to be placed in this situation, shrugs, trying to hide his excitement. “Yeah.” he pats his lap, wiggling his eyebrows at Adrien. “Sit down, Monsieur.”

Adrien slowly drops himself into Luka’s lap, gently moving until he’s comfortable. 

Alya sneakily takes a picture. 

After a few more truths and dares, it’s Juleka’s turn to ask. “Marinette, truth or dare?”

After a few seconds of thinking, Marinette answers “Dare.”

“I dare you…” Juleka makes a huge show out of thinking up a dare, but the one she has is one memorized from Alya’s meticulous planning. “To give Luka a kiss on the nose.” 

Adrien looks at the two, who are starting to look like Ladybug’s costume, and asks “Do I have to move?”

Juleka shakes her head. “Stay where you are.”

Marinette sputters, but makes her way over to Luka and Adrien. Leaning past Adrien, who melts at the feeling of Marinette breathing by his ear, Marinette locks eyes with Luka. “I’m going to kiss you now,” she whispers. He nods, and Marinette brushes her lips onto the tip of his nose. Luka cannot control the sigh that escapes him. Marinette pulls back and returns to Kagami’s side, who straightens up, and looks to Adrien.

“Adrien, truth or dare?” Kagami asks him. 

“Uh, dare I guess?” Adrien answers, intimidated by her intensity. 

“I dare you to sit in my lap.”

You can hear a pin drop.

The team was not expecting the operation to go this well. 

“You heard her right, Adrien.” Rose chimes. “Go sit in her lap!”

Luka, who is very reluctant to give up Adrien, watches as he goes, and settles into his second lap of the evening. Kagami leans forward into his back, and whispers into his ear, “I missed you.” 

Adrien thinks he is going to die. 

This time, Nino takes the picture.

After another round that results in Alix reliquenshing her hat to a very delighted Rose, Alya takes the reins. “Luka, Kagami, I dare you two swap pajamas. One of you can change in my bathroom, the other in my bedroom.”

Lukan and Kagami make eye contact, an unspoken message coursing through the room. Kagami taps Adrien’s lower back. “I’ll be back.” 

He stands up, sitting with a very delighted Marinette, allowing Kagami and Luka to go to Alya’s room. Once in the room, Kagami closes the door and turns to Luka. Luka is the first one to break the silence. “What’s your game at?”

“What game?” Kagami drawls, not breaking the stand off. 

“Well, I just found it odd that you dared Adrien to sit in your lap while Marinette was right there, and you’ve been glued to her side all evening.”

“I do not hesitate, Luka. I know what I want, and I get it.”

Luka raises his hands in a sign of peace. “Hey, I’m not trying to start a fight or anything. I’m just trying to figure out if we’re on the same page.”

“What page, Luka?”

“Do I really have to spell it out?”

Kagami’s silence is all the answer he gets.

“Fine, fine. Listen, I’m in love with Adrien and Marinette, and I’m almost positive that you feel the same.”

“You are correct about almost everything.”

“Almost?”

“You failed to account that I might be in love with you.”

“Oh.”

Kagami raises an eyebrow. “Oh? I confess to you and all you have to say is oh??” 

Luka backtracks, trying to explain himself, but Kagami interrupts. “It’s okay. I’m not going to be selfish.”

“No, no no!  You’ve got me all wrong, Kagami!” Luka slides a hand through his hair. “You’re like, part of my harmony. The four of us, we’re like a four part harmony. I… need all of the chords to sound good.”

Kagami gasps, a blush dusting across her cheeks. “Oh!”

Luka chuckles, and Kagami shoots him a glare. “The irony is not lost on me. However, the main issue at hand here is the fact that we’re being set up.”

“Definitely. But, I’m not mad about it..”

Kagami raises an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“Well, think about it. Do you think we would’ve ever figured it out on our own? I lo-love all of you, and you’re probably the smartest of us all, but we’re kinda dumb. Marinette will figure out if given many many hints, and Adrien…”

Luka falters, not wishing to insult Adrien, but continues. “When it comes to crushes, Adrien’s about as smart as a rock. Not like a cool rock. Just a rock.”

Kagami snorts at the comparison, and turns to Luka, smirking. “I say we play along, and enjoy ourselves. Besides, whatever’s going on,” She laces her fingers into Luka’s, who is smiling, and squeezes her hand back. “It already led me to you.”

“Let’s finally complete the dare, huh?”

Kagami nods, and they split to change, fingers touching until the very last second. 

When Kagami and Luka leave, the sitting arrangements have slightly changed. Alya and Nino are cutely snuggled up. Alix is sprawled on top of their laps, smirking at Adrien and Marinette. Alya sees the pair, and motions to be quiet. Adrien and Marinette are holding hands, red as Adrien’s onesie. Their feet are brushed up against each other, and Marinette is very pointedly not looking at Adrien.  

Marinette would later swear she felt Adrien purring. 

Kagami leans over to Alya, whispering, “Where are Juleka and Rose?”

Alya whispers back, “Alix dared them to play Seven MInutes in Heaven, which should be up right….” A timer beeps off, and Rose and Juleka stumble out of the coat closet, mildly disoriented but both foolishly smiling. 

Luka and Kagami make eye contact, an unspoken thought passing among them. Marinette finally notices Kagami and Luka and squeaks when she sees them. She’s mostly excited about how cute Kagami looks in the ridiculously oversized Ladybug onesie, but her and Adrien quickly notice the nightgown on Luka falls smack in the middle of his thighs. Both Adrien and Marinette fight an urge to touch his legs. 

Alya wiggles her eyebrows, and nudges Nino, who grabs Juleka’s attention. They all know it’s time for the final phase of Operation Seven Minutes. It’s perfect that Alix already made a segway to having people playing it, really, this is going way too well. “Hey Marinette, you haven’t had a turn in a while. Truth or dare?”

Marinette chuckles, somehow miraculously still holding Adrien’s hand, decides “I’m feeling a dare.”

Time to go for the kill. “I dare you to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with someone of your choice.”

Marinette looked ready to murder Alya. Twitching hands, and a very fake smile. Nino jumps in, as according to plan, in case Marinette couldn’t pick. “C’mon Alya, don’t make her pick! She’ll take so long, that we’ll all be 80. I’ll pick.”

“NO!” Marinette practically screeches. “No. No. Alya dared me to pick, and so I’ll pick.” She doesn’t pick. 

After a minute that felt like an hour, Juleka speaks up. “I have an idea. How about Marinette goes in the closet, and whoever wants to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with her will follow. Anyone opposed?”

When no one speaks, Marinette nods, and shuffles off to the closet. As she sits in there, her mind begins to race. Why is no one coming? It’s because no one likes you, you should’ve just picked Alya and hugged her for 7 minutes..

While Marinette worries outside, her friends sit in silence. Suddenly, Kagami stands up and rushes to the closet. Luka leaps up, hot on her tail. After a few seconds, Adrien jumps up, and scrambles after the two, muttering “Crap, crap, crap!”

Alya, Nino and Juleka just stare in amusement, and Rose and Alix...are going to need a moment.

Before Marinette can spiral any more, Kagami slams the door open, then attempts to lean on the door nonchalantly. “Uh, hey-” she’s promptly interrupted by Luka's body slamming into her, causing both of them to fall in with Marinette. She squeaks as they both fall in, and if it wasn’t awkward already, Adrien also trips and stumbles in. Alya makes no time in quickly shutting the door, and the fours eyes widen hearing the lock click. “Seven minutes starting now, have fun!”

Marinette is the first to speak up. “So, um, all of us are in here. In here, in this closet, for s-seven m-m-minutes in heaven. Hm, hm, so I uh, hm..”

Marinette is so cute that the three might die. 

Kagami smiles. “Marinette, may I?” Marinette cues her with a nod. “I believe that Marinette is pointing out the fact that we all wanted to play Seven Minutes in Heaven with her, a party game for the sole purpose of making out. I know that I would love to make out with Marinette.”

Luka nods in agreement. “Same here.”

Marinette is a squeaky, blushy mess. They all turn to Adrien.

He is blushing just as bad, if not worse than Marinette. “Y-yeah…” 

Marinette almost faints. “I, um, would like to uh, make, make, um up, no out, with all of you too.” 

Kagami, who would later claim that she already knew this and just wanted the others to know, lets out a faint “Yes!”

“Erm.. Continue.”

Marinette nods. “I, um, also, notice, that you guys, all kinda, you know, um, like each, each, other, and  I um, like, want to sugg- suggest,”

Luka tries to rub her back to encourage her, but because of how small the closet is, he ends up being squished a little too close to Marinette, with his face mere inches from Adrien’s.

Adrien is going to give Alya the entire Gabriel fortune. He’s going to give her the entire company. 

“I-” she gulps. “I would like to suggest us, being in like, a poly group. Only, only if everyone's okay with it, and I know we would have to work out all the kinks-”

Marinette is quickly silenced by a swift kiss from Kagami. While the two girls kiss, Luka and Adrien are both trying to decide to get jealous, or kiss each other. Kagami takes her sweet time pulling away, and whispers, “I would love to date you. All of you. If-if you’ll have me.”

Surprisingly, Adrien speaks up. “It would be a dream to date all of you. I, have to admit, I loved Marinette first, deep down, and then Luka and Kagami came into my life, and I’ve, I’ve never been the same.”

Everyone looks to Luka, who lets out a hearty chuckle. “Of course I want to date you guys! All of you are my harmony. My beautiful, beautiful harmony.”

Marinette looks up at all of them,  tears brimming in her eyes. “I love you guys!”

“We love you too Marinette!”

“You know,” Luka mentions, wiggling his eyebrows at Adrien. “Alya shoved us in here to play Seven Minutes, and those seven minutes are ticking by…”

Outside, Alix glances over to Alya. “Did you set the timer?”

“Oh no!” Alya gasps, most definitely insincere. She makes a huge show out of picking up her phone, and pretending to be surprised that the timer isn’t set. “I’ll just set it to seven minutes now. I just hope they don’t mind!”

Nino rolls his eyes, snaking an arm around his girlfriend. “I’m almost positive they won’t babe.”

After the actual seven minutes, Alya finally unlocks and opens the door. “Times up,” she calls, “I hope you guys weren’t too..” All four of them topple out of the closet, tangled and flustered. “Uncomfortable.” she finishes with a smirk.

Marinette smiles, stands up, dusts herself up, and pulls up her girlfriend and boyfriends, kissing each of their cheeks. “We managed.” 

Later that night

“M’lady,” Chat Noir calls, settling next to her on the Eiffel Tower. “It’s 1 am, are you okay?”

“No, yeah! I’m actually great!” she assures him. “I called you here to tell you something. So, you know how I kept rejecting you?”

“Yeah, about that-”

“Wait. Just, let me finish, kitty. I’m dating the boy now, and I’m also dating two other people that I really love, and I thought was a rival for me to the boy, and the other boy the boy thought was his rival and I’m telling you this because you’re my friend and my partner..”

And in that moment, a fog is lifted from his mind. He places his hand on Ladybug’s shoulder, and whispers, “Marinette?”

“How-” and the fog is lifted from her as well. “Adrien?”

He pulls, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. They pull each other into a deep hug, and sob into the night. 

“Of course it’s you,” Adrien cries into Marinette’s shoulder. “It’s always been you.”

They share a tear soaked kiss, weighted down by each other, by their love for each other, by their love for the two still with Alya. 

Marinette stands up, and pulls Adrien to his feet. “Let’s get back before Luka and Kagami notice we’re gone.”

They’ve already noticed, but they will let the duo tell them on their own time. For now, they just let the two snuggle in close, and hold them tight. After all, that’s what love is. Trust. 

https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltywhovian

[activechataclysme]

TITLE: clean.

Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug Ship: The Love Square - Little bit Adrinette, Little bit Marichat Rating: T [ AO3 ]

Summary: Marinette decides that letting go of her feelings for Adrien is what is best for her, and she is resolute on that.

PART - I

It was months and months of back and forth

You're still all over me

Like a wine-stained dress I can't wear anymore

Hung my head as I lost the war

And the sky turned black like a perfect storm

In the silence of her room, Marinette stared at the black umbrella - usually in the warm, loving corner of her closet -  on her chaise. More than anything, all she was feeling was a bone-deep exhaustion.

“Marinette?” Alya called sleepily, sitting up in her loft bed and reaching for her glasses. “What’re you doing up?”

“I need to get over him.”

“What?”

“I don’t like what it does to me,” said Marinette, voice small. “The nerves, the fear. Being so… On edge and scared.”

Alya quietly slipped off the covers and climbed down the ladder to stand next to Marinette, brows furrowed in concern as her eyes landed on the umbrella.

“Where’s this coming from, M?”

“Everything , Al!” burst out Marinette, tears stinging her eyes. “I-It’s starting to feel like that’s all I am. I don’t like how that’s become my identity .”

Alya linked her hand around Marinette’s and tugged her gently towards the chaise. Carefully setting the umbrella on the floor, she sat Marinette down on it before kneeling down in front of her.

“Girl, what happened?”

“I- I find myself making bad decisions ,” she sniffled, eyes filling up with tears.

She kept making the wrong choices. Losing Master Fu was her fault. Getting Ryuuko instead of Queen Bee even though that would’ve been a better choice and so it was her fault that Miracle Queen happened.

And she kept hurting people. Luka, Kagami, Chat Noir . They didn’t deserve that.

“I don’t like who I’ve become, Al. I- I never cared about boys this much, it’s not… I don’t… And he doesn’t even notice . He doesn’t see me, and I’m just… Done ,” she sighed. “And I know it’s not his fault, but he brings out the worst in me. No, that’s not fair. My feelings for him bring out the worst in me, and I don’t like that. I hate how it makes me feel about myself.”

“Oh, Marinette, it’s really not that bad,” cooed Alya. “You’re a girl in love and-”

“It’s not that bad, really Alya?” asked Marinette, sniffling. “The fact that people I grew up with thought I could… Be so jealous over a guy and sabotage someone? That isn’t bad? I must have done something to make them believe I am capable of that! The worst part is I did do that, didn’t I? It was easy to believe after that thing with Chloe and-”

Alya winced guiltily. “M, I didn’t-”

“I don’t mean you, I just…” Marinette softened immediately. “As I said, my feelings for him are not doing me any good at all. I am starting to think that it’s letting people think the worst of me.” She finished in a small voice. “I just don’t want to be like that. It’s not the kind of love he deserves. Nor the kind I want to give, either.”

“I just want there to be more to what I do than a boy ,” she grimaced.

Alya giggled a little. “No boys in this house.”

“Shut up, Al,” snorted Marinette. “You have a boyfriend.”

“That I do, that I do,” hummed Alya.

“I’m going to tell Nino that you forgot about him,” said Marinette solemnly.

“Oh noooo,” Alya said dramatically. “That would break the poor boy’s heart.”

“I love you, Al,” sighed Marinette, a fit of laughter later, as she rested her head against her shoulder.

“I love you too, girl,” smiled Alya. “But seriously, whatever you need, alright?”

Marinette considered for a moment. “No more schemes. No more missions or operations or anything .”

“Aw,” pouted Alya. “I loved planning those.”

“And no more trying to leave us alone.”

“Okay, I promise.”

“Actually, I’m going to need you to make sure it doesn’t happen ever .”

“ Ever ?” asked Alya incredulously. “Girl, you’re still going to be friends with him, right?”

“Well, okay maybe till I’m… You know, okay.”

“Okay, fair,” Alya conceded.

“And... “ Marinette inhaled deeply. “Don’t give me any updates on… his dating, and whatever.’

“Okay, Marinette,” sighed Alya. “Whatever you need.”

“I just need to be able to get over him.”

It felt like the end of something big, which was silly. But maybe also not, because maybe Marinette shouldn’t have let it get that big. She had responsibilities that were greater than this schoolgirl fancies; schoolgirl fancies that had not done her any good in the first place.  

Marinette thought it ironic that the sky had blackened to foreshadow a storm. She suspected it’d last a few days at least.

“Hey, Adrien.”

“Marinette! Hey!” he beamed. If it made her ache a little, she pretended it didn’t because it shouldn’t anymore. “Want me to drop you off?”

Her eyes widened just a bit, but she shook her head gently, a warm smile on her face. “It’s okay, thank you. I just… Uh…”

“Everything okay?”

His eyes were soft, green and so, so concerned for her. But over his shoulder, she saw Kagami approaching. So she looked away, inhaled deeply and plastered on a smile before looking back at him.

“Peachy. Everything’s fine, thank you very much for your concern.”

She winced internally at how her voice had risen, and thrust her hand forward.

“I keep meaning to,” she started slowly, eyes fixed on the umbrella. “But I keep forgetting to return this to you.”

“What?”

The confusion in his voice finally had her look him in the eye again. She chuckled and nodded at the umbrella. “It’s yours. You gave it to me on your first day of school, remember?”

“No, yeah, I remember,” he said, the confusion not having left him as he still kept looking at her.

Kagami was waiting behind him at a distance, and for that, Marinette was grateful. So she powered through, eyes flickering back to his.

“I’m returning it to you,” she said, shaking the umbrella lightly.

“I- I didn’t intend for you to. I don’t mind, honest.” Adrien blinked. “Besides, it looks like it’s going to rain. You’re gonna need it.”

She gave him a wistful smile. “I’m sure you don’t, but it isn’t mine to keep.” And then she pulled out a small pink umbrella with white dots on it. “And I’ve got my own this time.”

Reluctantly, he took the umbrella from her and stared at it, looking at her with worry. “Why now?”

“I thought it was about time, is all.”

Before he could say anything, she took a step down so he was towering over her on the stairs. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Adrien. Bye!”

“Bye, Marinette.”

She walked away, thankful that she had to go in the opposite direction of where Kagami stood waiting. She did not look back, not even once, though she could feel his gaze boring into her back. She trudged on as it started to rain, and walked past the bakery.

She wandered till the Seine came into view. She stood by the embankment, slightly out of breath as she gazed out at the torrents of water lashing against the concrete bank. There was a dull ache in her chest, but she felt that just maybe she had just a little bit of her life back in her control.

Yes she’d had whimsical dreams and fantasies about life with a boy she thought she was deeply in love with, but maybe there would be more dreams in the future. And maybe they would be with someone who would see her and bring the best out of her, and made her want to be a better person for herself rather than for them.

She lifted the umbrella off her head to tilt her face up to the sky, eyes fluttered shut as she let cold as ice rain soak her to the bone. It felt a lot better than the bone-chilling exhaustion that had settled into her.

Yes it hurt a little, or maybe a lot and maybe it would keep hurting for a while but she had to believe that she would be okay, that this would be okay.

Baby steps.

PART - II

There was nothing left to do

When the butterflies turned to

Dust that covered my whole room

So I punched a hole in the roof

Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you

A few months later, Marinette carefully set the bracelet he had made her into the box she stored all her mementos - press dried roses from Chat Noir, her ticket stub from the first movie she was allowed to watch with her friends, a necklace from her grandmother that she'd ended up breaking when was ten, among the many other things. She removed the pictures of him from the walls save for photos that they were in with their friends, and absolutely cleared the corkboard by her bed of all pictures of him. The box of gifts she had made had already been handed over to her parents so they could donate it to children in need.

For Adrien's birthday this year, she would do what she did for all of her friends - a birthday card, a cake or a dozen macarons of their favourite flavour and one handmade gift that would take her no longer than two hours to make.

When Chat dropped into her room some time later, she had thrown open the skylight and was kneeling on the bed right below it, eyes closed and face tilted upwards towards the moon and stars.

He observed, and made no attempt to hide his curiosity as. "The photos are gone."

"The posters," she corrected absent-mindedly, eyes fluttering open as she remembered to roll up the stuff she'd taken down into careful rolls to be kept at the back of the closet. Felt odd to be storing them away given the intention of taking them down, but it felt wronger to throw them.

"Right, posters," he nodded. "Why?"

"I thought it was about time, is all."

"You... Thought it was about time?" repeated Chat, and she couldn't tell why his voice sounded a little strained. "Had a little change in taste of fashion, Princess?"

Marinette chuckled humourlessly. "You can say that again."

Chat hummed and watched her slip down the ladder to hand him the platter of croissants she'd taken aside for him.

"You okay, Princess?"

"Stressed," she muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, as he dropped on the chaise and she trudged to drop down onto the floor between his knees.

He picked her brush off her chaise lounge and started to gentle run it through her hair.

"Everything okay, kitty? You seem quieter than usual."

"I- Well, never mind. You're already stressed as is."

She turned around to look up at him, cheek resting against his knee. "Chat Noir. You know it doesn't work like that. Talk to me!"

Chat sighed, flicking her forehead lightly so she turned back around. He started to braid her hair carefully, worrying his lower lip as he contemplated his words. "My girlfriend broke up with me."

"Oh, Chat, I'm so sorry," she gasped, starting to turn around but, he kept a firm hand on her shoulder to hold her in place. Surprised, she stopped resisting now curious and a little concerned for her partner.

"Nothing to be sorry about," he sighed. "I think it was inevitable. Once the rush of the newness of it all went away, it was all... the same, you know? Our parents are strict and there wasn't really much to do, but that never bothered her. I tried to get her to play video games with me, but... Well, she's very smart, and a very no-nonsense, practical type of a person, you know? She did not see the point of it, but I know she tried to. But I could tell she didn't enjoy it. And..." he trailed away, voice coming down to a slow mutter. "And it doesn't help that I'm a superhero. Secrets are not good for relationships apparently. That, and the other small things... And her thinking I was in love with someone else-"

"Ladybug?"

"Maybe," he murmured. "But she thinks its someone else."

"Oh."

"It just... Really did nothing to help. I don't even know if we're friends now."

"That's awful," Marinette whispered, as Chat snapped the rubberband on her finished French braid.

"Ta-da!"

Marinette giggled. "Thank you, Chat."

He lounged back as Marinette scurried away to clean her hairbrush and put it away in her vanity.

"So, have you thought about what to say to Luka?" he asked casually, one leg swung over his knee as he tried to look nonchalant, but his alery kitty ears and stiff shoulders gave him away.

She sighed and looked at him wistfully. "Yeah."

When she didn't elaborate, he quirked a brow. "And?"

"I'm going to have to turn him down," she sighed. "

"What, why? I thought you liked him!"

"I do, I think," agreed Marinette. "We've been on a couple of dates and-" She flushed. "-And kissed a little, but I just... Realised that it won't last. Whether or not we make it "official", like he wants to."

"Princess, you can't know that," said Chat, a wistful smile on his face, his eyes a little sad.

"I do know," she sighed. "I have... Too many responsibilities. I don't want to be the kind of girlfriend that flakes all the time. Luka doesn't deserve that. I just... Have too much going on."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It is what it is, chaton."

"Sad, is what it is," he sighed.

Marinette agreed.

PART - III

Ten months sober, I must admit

Just because you're clean, don't mean you don't miss it

Ten months older, I won't give in

Now that I'm clean, I'm never gonna risk it

It was strange really - in a relieving sort of way - how her heart did not race as fast anymore in his presence. She didn't feel like she would become one with the floor when he held her hand, which he seemed to like to do a lot now. She also knew that Alya had noticed, and was thankful that despite the gleam in her eyes and occasional pointed quirking of her brow, Alya did not really say anything. She really did love her best friend so freakin' much.

She did think there was a fragile quality to their friendship - maybe it was just her, worrying like she usually did, or maybe it was just the truth - that had formed since the ten months she'd returned the umbrella, well, technically speaking, three months since she'd returned the umbrella because it took her that long to dull the ache at the sight of him. And the fear of breaking what she'd worked so hard to build still kept her from spending too much alone time with him, because sometimes when he looked at her that warmly with the fond smile etched on his face. On the bright side, at least her heart didn't ache anymore at the thought of him kissing someone else.

She found herself, on very rare occasions, reminscing about the childish hope and lightheadedness of being so deeply in love with him. She missed feeling that light, maybe because now the weight of the world had only gotten heavier on her shoulders, and she associated the silliness of it all with a time when her biggest problem was how she was going to confess Adrien. Not dealing with the aftermath of revealed identities and being left with no allies, of being the new guardian - possibly the only teenager with access to that much power on the planet - and guarding all that power, not potentially losing all of her memories, not having to think about a timeline where her partner and her were in love strong enough to destroy the world and definitely not worrying about if this was all there was to life anymore because really, when would this end? How would this end? Will it ever?

She felt a gentle squeeze against her hand and she shook herself from the dangerous spiral that she was heading into. She found Adrien smiling at her like that again - and something warm flared in her chest, again - and she shook it off. Easier than she would have ten months ago.

"You okay there?"

"I'm good."

"Do you, er, want to, um, maybe grab some hot chocolate after school?"

His cheeks were red, or maybe she was just imagining it. His eyes were soft, or maybe she was just imagining it. He looked nervous, or maybe she was imagining it.

And it was raining.

Her eyes darted to take in the sky and lightning crackled overhead.

"Looks like the perfect weather for it," she murmured, and he beamed at her. She took a lungful of that fresh air, singing with the metallic aftertaste of lightning, thunder, earth and rain. "Let me just text Alya and Nino."

Rain came pouring down

When I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe

And by morning

Gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean.

[miraculouscontent]

*Breaks down door screaming incoherently* PUPPETEER 2! SALT! NOW!

YES! SALT! I AM COMPELLED!

Let’s get the few positives out of the way first.

Plagg was cute, Adrien and Nino’s friendship exists without Nino bailing on obligations, Tikki actually GAVE MARINETTE REAL ADVICE for once, blah blah blah–

no one cares, you all just wanna hear me salt, so LET’S DO IT.

[DJWhyfi]

First off, neither of them paused the game when Nino went to pick up his phone and that’s the true crime here.

So… just throwing this out there, but can we not with the couple stereotype of “’weak’ male character with ‘strong’ female character who scares the tar out of the male, as if the male is constantly fearful of the female hitting/murdering them”? Like, Adrimi is different since Adrien is more blown away rather than scared of Kagami, but I’m just…

Like, yeah, I’m still peeved at Nino in “Party Crasher”, but I don’t feel like this Nino deserves the constant death glares from Alya. It’s just more contrivance for “lol stammering/nervous character keeps messing up while the other character (usually Alya) makes faces at them”.

Also, Nino and Marinette both need to take lessons for helping them cure their panic, just sayin’.

And whereas “Party Crasher” ignored the relationship between Nino and Alya almost completely, “The Puppeteer 2″ puts it at the forefront because Alya gets upset at Nino for wanting to go with Adrien to the museum, because he apparently planned to hang out with her all afternoon.

…Now, look, if this was a situation where Nino and Alya maybe didn’t spend a lot of time together, I’d at least semi-understand (though I’d also say that being disappointed would be a better reaction than anger).

But I–and really, a lot of people–have been salting all season (maybe a bit longer) about how Nino and Alya seem to spend all their time together! They spend so much time together that they continuously pawn their satanical siblings onto Marinette so that they can go on dates!

And I thought it was nice to see Nino so eager to hang out with Adrien, especially with the way he reacted almost immediately and was promptly heading for the door, but then it’s ruined by Alya standing in his way and glaring at him as if they hadn’t had a good time in weeks.

(Since I was just talking about “Party Crasher” as well, just throwing it out there that this would’ve been a better situation in which Nino could ditch Alya; it’s not a work obligation, it’s a one-time thing that Nino would have to go to at that very moment, and we see right at the start of the episode that Alya is overreacting, so we’re already not on her side. Might’ve been fun to have an “Alya VS Nino” episode where Nino keeps sending her on a wild goose chase while Alya tries to use her detective skills to find him before he reaches the museum to meet up with Adrien. This would also be a way for them to get into a real argument, with this being about how much time they’re spending together and how, even though Alya is Nino’s girlfriend, he’s still gonna rush to Adrien at first notice because he and Adrien basically never hang out while he and Alya always seem to.)

And then Alya even tries to bargain to get her (along with Marinette and Manon) to go to with Nino as well, which is short-sighted even for her.

Like, yes, of course it’d be nice if Adrien could just bring all his friends whenever he wanted, but considering how strict Gabriel and Nathalie usually are, bargaining is quite possibly one of the worst moves to make when Nathalie is already letting Adrien take one friend.

That “privilege” could just as easily be taken away if Adrien tried to bargain for more friends. Nathalie could’ve shut down Adrien immediately and insist that he won’t be taking anyone if he tries to ask for more.

By the way, completely ruined opportunity for a joke there. Nathalie was getting steadily more tired with Adrien’s pressing, but there’s no punchline.

As an audience, we know that Nathalie seems to have a soft spot for the Agrestes, but Alya and Nino don’t. Being allowed one friend is already more than Adrien usually gets, so to have Alya even try to get Nino to ask Adrien for more, thrice (once for her, another for Marinette, and one more for Manon)?

Yeah, no. Alya can set up her date with Nino at another point in time.

And while we’re on the topic of this bargaining thing, we have yet another moment where Alya pushes Marinette to do something she’s not ready for.

“Adrien invited us!” No, Alya. Adrien invited Nino.

Like, here’s just a quick list of stuff Alya has pushed Marinette to do (when Marinette wasn’t ready/willing):

The Bubbler - Alya shoves Marinette over to Adrien and Nino to force her to give him the gift, not thinking to just–y’know–give the gift to Adrien herself and say that it’s from Marinette.

Copycat - Alya tells Marinette to memorize the script she gave, then presses the “call” button before Marinette can actually do so, forcing Marinette to converse with Adrien without prepping.

Kung Food - Alya sends Adrien to help Marinette with her great uncle without any warning.

Princess Fragrance - Alya insists that Marinette give Adrien her notes even though Marinette has a sick Tikki that needs healing (which she tries to make an excuse for, but Alya cuts her off, believing that Marinette will make something up).

Despair Bear - Alya shoves Marinette out onto the dance floor, making her slam right into Adrien.

Backwarder - Alya (and the rest of the girl squad) force Marinette to show them what’s in the bag that Adrien gave her, without Marinette’s consent and despite Marinette’s clear embarrassment.

And now, we have this episode, where Alya demands that Marinette go to the museum with Adrien them and that Marinette “doesn’t have a choice”.

I have to ask… how dense is Alya? I mean, I rag on Adrien “osmium” Agreste over here, but how many times will we have to do this same song and dance before Alya realizes that forcing Marinette will only prolong her struggles?

One doesn’t even have to look far for proof either. Marinette’s decision to confess to Adrien in both “Dark Cupid” and “Backwarder” weren’t brought on by Alya at all; they were decisions that Marinette made either on her own or with an unintentional suggestion from Tikki.

And heck, another time was in “Frozer”, where it was Luka who gave Marinette the prompting to go after Adrien. That was gentle, non-invasive, and even though Marinette still failed in the end, she wasn’t a stuttering stammering mess; she kept relative cool (compared to her more frantic outbursts, at least) and simply didn’t say what she’d meant to.

But when it’s Alya? Things tend to go less than pleasant, or at least be a coin flip on how it’s gonna go.

Like, the face Marinette makes when Alya tells her about going to the museum with Adrien?

That’s fear right there. That’s terror, because Marinette knows how forceful Alya is and has no idea when Alya’s going to spring her on Adrien without another word (or at least, that would be a natural concern to have and also exactly what happens).

This is further shown during the ride to the museum, where Marinette is quick to catch onto the fact that Alya and Nino planned on ditching Marinette and Adrien without telling Marinette about it.

And, on that point–the fact that Nino knows about Marinette’s crush–I find myself truly conflicted.

On one hand, I’d always wanted “Animan” to be referenced again so Marinette would know the truth; that Alya did indeed tell Nino.

On the other though, this is hardly coming back to bite Alya. In fact, rather than feeling bad or feeling desperate on the chance that Marinette would hate her, Alya is–again–aggressive, trying to keep up the lie that she didn’t tell Nino anything at all.

It really hurts to see, especially given that “Animan” itself had Tikki scolding Marinette for what she did, but then just let Alya boast about what a good friend she was for not telling Nino anything because she “doesn’t go making decisions for other people” (a clear reference to what Marinette did in that episode). She even pinkie swore on it, yet here we are, two seasons later, where she’s still trying to keep up the lie.

Heck, there are two separate scenes in this episode where Marinette presses Alya for the truth, but Alya continues denying it. It’s like Alya is trying to keep this title of “best friend” because she knows how horrified Marinette would be she knew that Alya spilled such a personal secret to Adrien’s best friend.

Now, taken on its own, it’s not like I have a huge issue with Alya telling Nino, because it very well could’ve been an accident or just something she said without thinking about it.

But in context with all the stuff Marinette is punished for? Comparing “Stormy Weather” to “Christmaster” and now comparing “Animan” to this?

It’s just… sad. The only punishment Alya gets in this episode seems more like a consequence of leaving Manon to go play with Nino instead (and trust me, we’ll get there).

Anyway, once the five are finally in the museum, Nino had to be given Marinette-brand lessons in “how not to say words”, because he stammers and stumbles through all of Adrien’s questions. He can’t discern what Alya meant when she was talking about “Marinette taking the first step” (pretty sure that letting Marinette be the one to ask Adrien to get together is the actual first step, but okay) and also to “deny everything Adrien asks. He’s apparently so afraid of Alya (I presume) that he just stopped thinking and let his mouth run, only looking back at Alya to get cues on how he’s doing.

And it also seems out-of-character for Nino to say something so bluntly to shut down Adrien. For example, since he’s supposed to “deny everything”, he denies it when Adrien suggests that he and Alya came just to give him company. Even if it’s not technically true (on Alya’s end anyway; Nino definitely wanted to go for Adrien at first), that’s not something that Nino would just blurt out.

And to leave Adrien in the dark, thinking that Marinette hates him? Regardless of how I feel about Nino’s character at the moment, I do not believe that Nino would simply sigh and let the subject go as Adrien questions whether or not Marinette hates him.

I mean, this is the guy from “The Bubbler”; one of the few people who got akumatized for someone else’s sake. He got akumatized back then for Adrien. Literally the only reason why he doesn’t continue trying to reassure Adrien here is because the plot ”needed” Adrien to think that Marinette disliked him.

Fact is, if characters have to withhold information, stammer, and just generally waffle around their words for the sake of keeping a misunderstanding going, especially when those characters would be the type to correct that sort of mistake? That’s not an intricately-woven plot where characters came to those misunderstandings in a natural and believable way.

It’s just bad writing (especially as Alya stands completely still while waiting for Marinette to come back instead of intervening in the conversation to assure Adrien that Marinette doesn’t hate him; she was listening basically the entire time, so it’s not unreasonable).

Then, on Alya’s side of things, we get her vaguely alluding to the fact that she’ll eventually ditch Marinette so that Marinette can be alone with Adrien. It’s a warning, which is something, but it’s still too vague for Marinette to be prepared for it when it inevitably happens.

It’s also at this point where I don’t know whether to compliment the animation for its good expressions or criticize it for not delivering it where it’s supposed to. It’s as if the episode wanted Marinette to be freaking out because “comedy”, but also wanted to be more serious by showing her inner turmoil through actual sad expressions rather than overexaggerated faces.

When Marinette is slouched on the stairs, horrified that Alya is forcing her into this, it doesn’t deliver the “comedic punch” that it’s supposed to, especially when Marinette’s anxiety has been played for laughs so often that it no longer feels like a joke.

It’s not Marinette about to slip, fall, and make a fool out of herself. No, it’s Marinette about to break down.

And who can blame her? She’s been at constant odds with herself over telling Adrien how she feels, has a best friend who keeps pushing her to do better, and all attempts end in failure because the universe seems to hate her guts.

It’d be weird if she didn’t have anxiety on the matter.

And, predictably, once Alya and Nino take Manon and leave Marinette with Adrien, Marinette isn’t able to get her words out properly and just makes everything worse.

It’s almost like I know how this show works.

Marinette rushed for the door as Alya closed it behind her, but Alya just left her there. Alya doesn’t care how Marinette feels on the matter because, apparently, she knows best and believes that time alone with Adrien is all Marinette needs.

It’s not, and continuing to do this will only disillusion Marinette further, making her more panicked and anxious around Adrien. The memories of embarrassment and screw-ups just serve to make her more self-conscious about her chances, heightening her odds of failure because, hey, she messed up so many times before, what would make now any different?

Heck, Alya doesn’t even do a good job at taking Manon with her.

Remember “Stormy Weather” (which is pretty widely considered to be episode one??) where Alya bragged that she babysat her little sisters “all the time” and was “an expert”?

Well, all those times where she had Marinette watch her siblings instead has apparently left her very rusty, because she completely forgets about Manon in the middle of a game they were playing. Not even a minute passes between Alya and Nino turning their focus to the statues (they were probably two lines away from accidentally outting themselves as Rena Rouge and Carapace to Manon, I swear) to Nino playfully chasing Alya out (and there’s not even a cut to show time passing), yet Manon is left completely neglected, eventually leading to her akumatization.

This isn’t even about the fact that they left a child all by herself in a museum. Like, yeah, that’s still bad, but the important thing here is that Alya and Nino took Manon from Marinette without her permission.

In that moment, they put themselves in charge. They decided that they were going to take care of her so that Marinette could have alone time with Adrien. If they’re going to take a kid out of Marinette’s care, they can at least do a half-decent job of remembering that she exists.

Let’s pretend for a moment that Manon didn’t get akumatized. Let’s say that Alya and Nino left and Manon decided to go entertain herself instead of getting upset.

If Manon got hurt, the blame would fall on Marinette. In “Prime Queen”, when Nadja sees Manon on the video call, she immediately asks where Marinette is. It didn’t matter that Alya was there, because Marinette was in charge.

And here, even if Nino and Alya tried to take the blame for Manon getting lost/hurt, then the question falls to why Marinette wasn’t the one keeping an eye on her.

But all Nino and Alya could say was that they wanted Marinette and Adrien to have alone time together. That’s it. There would be very few excuses that would fly, and most of them wouldn’t be able to shift all the blame off of Marinette.

Whether Marinette would be deserving of consequences or not, Nadja would target Marinette first because that’s who she trusted Manon to.

But the episode doesn’t touch on that. At all. Even after the scene cuts back to Nino and Alya (who are still not looking for Manon), the only repercussions they receive are when they’re swiftly dealt with by Puppeteer (which is silly when you consider that the Puppeteer got akumatized because of them yet chose other people who did nothing wrong to be the ones who were almost killed).

It’s not touched on because that wasn’t important to the episode. No, what was important was hurting, unnerving, and humiliating Marinette as often as possible for a quick joke.

…

*sigh*

Speaking of which…

[The Statue of Limitations]

The statue scene. A testament to how far the writers are willing to go for a laugh.

Uggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh.

Okay, so… I have several points. Literally several.

First off, we have Marinette and Tikki’s conversation, where Tikki gives actual advice when Marinette is stressing out over Adrien.

On the surface, it’s like, oh, cool, Tikki’s improving, but ultimately, the fact is that Tikki’s advice isn’t for Marinette’s sake.

It’s for the statue scene, when Marinette decides to start acting and playing a role as she pretends to confess to the Adrien “statue”. It’s not like this acting thing comes back later in the episode, so its sole purpose is to make Marinette humiliate herself in front of Adrien.

Second off is Adrien himself. Because of Nino failing to reassure him, Adrien still believes that Marinette dislikes him or just generally views him in a way that he doesn’t like.

In concept, I understand why Adrien would want to reassure Marinette that he’s a good friend. I get why he’d try to find a way to cheer her up and make him seem more friendly to her.

However, this? This isn’t Adrien being dense; this is Adrien being careless.

Let’s factor in what Adrien knows about Marinette. Nine times out of ten, Marinette flails, stammers, and seems to just be a big bundle of nerves. Even back in “Riposte”, Adrien points out that Marinette gets flustered easily, so he’s aware of this.

And that is why I cannot understand why his idea of getting on her good side is playing a prank on her. Pranks are very dicey territory, especially for people with anxiety, and this is even disregarding the fact that Adrien didn’t even consider what Marinette would prefer.

It would’ve been so much better had he tried to reason why he thought Marinette would like to be pranked, trying to figure out what the absolute best way to make her happy would be.

But instead, he takes the quickest way out. He’s hardly out of his conversation with Plagg before he sees Marinette and has the brilliantly stupid idea of “Hey, let me act like a statue in front of the girl who goes into hysterics at the sight of me! I’m sure that we’ll have a great laugh once I’ve revealed myself!”

It’s not just short-sighted; it’s reckless. Adrien has no evidence that Marinette is the playful type, often just saying that she’s “nice” (which people don’t often associate with “like pranks”), yet he chooses the worst option out of all other options to try and earn Marinette’s trust/friendship.

Third off is Plagg, and this is a big one. Now, obviously, Adrien and Marinette don’t know that the other is Ladybug/Chat, but Plagg and Tikki do.

That’s why it’s baffling to me that Plagg doesn’t try to deter Adrien from pretending to be a statue. He knows that Marinette is Ladybug and knows that kwami often talk to their holder once their holder is “alone”, so the amount of risk involved here is insane.

As for Tikki, either she knew that Adrien wasn’t a statue (and had no way to warn Marinette; would’ve been nice to have been shown that though), or the plot just coincidentally forgot that Tikki safely pops out of the purse whenever she and Marinette are alone (and sometimes when they’re not because Tikki isn’t as stealthy as she thinks).

Heck, even if Plagg presumed that Tikki would know not to come out, there’s still the chance that Marinette could’ve said something to Tikki like, “Look, I can practice with this statue!”. Just like that, her identity would’ve been blown, all because Plagg didn’t say anything when he should’ve.

And yes, Marinette was in the room, but Plagg could’ve easily pressed on the back of Adrien’s neck and muttered to Adrien to not do this because there was an obvious chance that Tikki would pop out of the purse (or, again, that Marinette would talk to Tikki), thus revealing Marinette’s identity as Ladybug.

“Dark Owl” was all the way back in Season 2, so even with all the Season 1 akuma littered about the museum, I highly doubt that this episode takes place before that one.

Though, of course, with this episode order, what do I know?

I mean, after all, it’s not like this episode blatantly shows a character that debuted in an episode that proved that Plagg very clearly knew about Marinette being Ladybug.

…Oh wait–

That’s actually exactly what it did.

And just on another note about Plagg: fourth off, how is Plagg not laughing hysterically at this scene? Like, obviously, I don’t find it funny, but if this episode is trying to show what “comedic gold” this scene is supposed to be, then why isn’t Plagg trying his very hardest to hold back his snickering? He thought it was hilarious when Chat said mean things to Ladybug in “Dark Cupid”, so why would this be any different?

Fifth off is Adrien… again. He just has a lot of problems here, okay?

I fully comprehend the idea that “Adrien is a model and, therefore, he’s able to hold still for a painfully long time”, but this is way too much. Adrien stands completely still while Marinette touches his face, plucks one of his hairs (which he only twitches at), and even puts her weight on him.

There’s suspension of disbelief, and then there’s just doing whatever the plot wants regardless of how much sense it makes. By the time Marinette is clearly staring at him fondly, Adrien could’ve recognized that Marinette didn’t actually hate him and thus dropped the act.

Yet, he chooses to keep going. He drags it out for as long as possible for this “prank” until he feels personally uncomfortable with Marinette kissing him.

Not Marinette feeling personally uncomfortable. Oh, no, Adrien just blatantly intrudes on that, what with him acting like a statue and just standing there as Marinette starts pouring her heart out with feelings that are quite frankly none of his business.

It’s only once he reveals himself that he shows any sort of remorse, because that’s the only time that matters apparently.

Like, “I didn’t want to scare you.” Well, gee, Adrien, then what exactly did you THINK was going to happen? How did “Evillustrator”, “Troublemaker”, and basically ANY EPISODE where you sneak up on Marinette NOT give you enough of a hint that Marinette is easily startled and also doesn’t LIKE to be startled?

It’s not a “joke”; it was Adrien doing whatever he wanted because he apparently didn’t want to go through the effort of figuring out what Marinette would’ve wanted.

Sixth off is Marinette herself, and I don’t even know where to begin.

Let’s just start with how weird it is to see Marinette (a creator) physically touching someone else’s work. I mean, I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say it’s out-of-character (plus, given how the statues are placed–right on the floor where everyone will undoubtedly walk near them–they might be designed to be touched/hit without any risk; the statue of Aurore’s umbrella even withstands being struck), but I imagine most people went into this episode thinking “Manon’s going to be running around and touching statues and driving everyone crazy if/when she ruins ones” only to then be confused as it’s Marinette who physically touches one (or at least what she thinks is one).

And I honestly don’t know how I’d define her behavior. Like, yeah, it was weird, but we–the audience–know that it’s the real Adrien, so that colors the perspective a bit there. If that had been an actual statue, I probably wouldn’t have blinked an eye because, like, it’s a statue and this is apparently a museum with super high-quality ones. Marinette touching someone else’s work weirds me out more than her doing anything to something that she thinks is a statue.

Also, an actual stalker���as some people claim her to be–would’ve known that it was real Adrien hair and not yak hair just by the feel of it. Step up your game, Marinette.

Chat also sniffed Ladybug in both “Animan” and this episode, by the way, and he knew/thought that she wasn’t a statue in both cases. Realistically speaking, the “over-the-top” reaction from Marinette’s sniffing versus Chat’s is likely because Marinette was expecting the scent of a wax statue and was pleasantly surprised to find that it smelled like Adrien.

…Also, wASTED OPPORTUNITY FOR AN “ADRIEN, THE FRAGRANCE” REFERENCE, YOU SORRY EXCUSE FOR AN EPISODE.

…Also also, Marinette gesturing to the Adrien statue while complimenting its beauty was legitimately adorable and I’ll fight for that belief.

But, well, that’s not the crucial point in this scene anyway. No, the big thing is the fact that this is up there with Marinette’s most humiliating moments involving Adrien.

And that is quite the list, by the way. Like, here’s every embarrassing moment Marinette has endured that just came to me off the top of my head:

- Recording an embarrassing voicemail to Adrien and then having to go through multiple steps to prevent him from listening to it

- Having Adrien see her walking around in her pajamas

- Walking into a male’s bathroom to talk to Adrien

- Getting her wall of Adrien photos broadcast on live television

- Being laughed at due to writing her love letter while saying it out loud, THEN having to endure Adrien misinterpreting everything due to her giving him the wrong letter (and she’s promptly laughed at again)

And now, we have this. We have Adrien pretending that he’s a statue and Marinette acting fondly around him: touching him, sniffing him, and even kissing him, only for Adrien to reveal himself at literally the worst moment.

I’d also just like to take a moment to point out how soul-crushing it must’ve been for Marinette to be living in this fantasy of kissing her crush, only to have him pull away from her. I’m not saying that Adrien should’ve let it happen, but it’s the fact that Adrien continued to let this charade go on for so long and that the episode had to progress it to that point.

Because, again, Marinette’s feelings do not matter to the episode. Marinette is at the expense of the writing staff, being punished for taking basically any action with Adrien. She tries to confess, fumbles because plot, and then has to pick herself up again to do it all over.

It’s an endless cycle. She’s spent so much time and energy into getting Adrien to love her, her friends keep pushing for her to be with him (with reservations on the matter that they often choose not to voice aloud), and she’s endured so much embarrassment just to be around him that I can only feel bad for her.

I feel bad because it’s clear why she’s desperate and crazy for him: it feels like such a waste to give him up after all the work she’s put in, and she’s never allowed to move on because the show doesn’t give her a chance to see Adrien’s flaws (or at least in a way where the narrative is acknowledging them as flaws), leading her to believe that he’s near-perfect. The only flaw she’s allowed to see is in episodes like “Gamer”, where Adrien is sulking about himself.

…OH YEAH, THAT REMINDS ME. ONTO MY SEVENTH POINT.

So, seventh off, one would think that, after being so horrified from the whole “thought it was a statue but it was the real thing” experience, Marinette would get time to sit, reflect, and at least cry a little.

But that is not what happens. When Adrien pulls away, instead of immediately apologizing, he cracks an awkward joke about what she’d said. It’s not that I don’t think it’s in-character, but dude, could you not???

And instead of tending to Marinette more after he apologizes and sees her sulking, Adrien sits next to her and has the gall to mope about how, despite all the time he’s spent with her (timestamps or it didn’t happen), he still doesn’t know how to be a good friend.

…I can’t even express how frustrating this is.

Like, look, whether he is right or not, by saying what he said (with nothing else added) and also not facing her, Adrien made the situation about himself and his problems. This draws all the attention away from Marinette and makes her feel bad for making him feel bad.

Whether they resolve this later or not is irrelevant, because the episode could’ve just as easily had Adrien leave Marinette alone so that she could clear her head before he starts pressing her (in the VERY NEXT SCENE THEY HAVE TOGETHER, which is in the same place and they haven’t even moved) over what happened.

Seriously, that is all kinds of wrong. Adrien should’ve either prioritized making Marinette feel better before he throws his pity party, or left her alone to figure out how he was going to make it up to her. If he thinks he’s so bad at friendship, then why is he continuing to do the exact same things that he’s been doing since “Gamer”?

I can only presume it’s because the “Treatment of Marinette” status quo is in effect, and that’s wrong all on its own.

[Museum of Moments]

Even disregarding the statue scene and the stuff with Alya and Nino, this episode is still just… bad. Thus, before I get to the big (using that word very negatively) scene at the end, I wanna talk about the smaller stuff.

Like, Manon’s whole thing about everyone ignoring her honestly wasn’t built up well. The whole thing in the intro with Manon’s line about how nobody pays attention to her wasn’t needed, nor was Marinette accidentally ignoring her due to being smitten with Adrien (that made zero sense given that he’d been in the car with her for the whole ride). Manon being upset that Nino and Alya went off to play without her was already enough. She’s a child; anything aside from that scene with Nino and Alya was just unnecessary dialog that could’ve gone to something worthwhile (like, y’know, Marinette’s problems).

And ultimately, all Manon is good for her is adding to Marinette’s embarrassment (as if she needed more) by being the one to mention the Adrien photo wall and asking if Adrien and Marinette are dating.

Then, there’s Adrien/Chat, and… like, I was never really one to lean either way on him being helpless versus saving people (I did a post on it once, but it was more out of request), but… he has way too many saves in this episode.

First, he saves Marinette from a statue Hawk Moth, using an umbrella he took from an Aurore statue.

Heck, he even keeps fighting the statue of Hawk Moth as Marinette escapes. He gets saved by Ladybug afterward, but he still held his own for a while.

Later, as Chat, he somehow manages to save himself from statues of various akumatized people being piled on top of him (and a certain head that was trying to take his ring in a certain way that I am not talking about).

Him saving himself is even done off-screen, so we don’t know how he did it.

Immediately after, he’s approached with a kiss from a statue of Ladybug, which he figures out rather quickly due to her scent and–okay, wait, I was going to just mention this, I have to talk about it because it really bugs me.

Chat (as Adrien) later refers to Ladybug as the “girl he loves”, yet he apparently knows nothing about her considering that a statue version of Ladybug goes in for a kiss (while The Puppeteer is still presumably hanging around) and he just rolls with it before realizing that it’s not her…

due to her scent.

Not because her kissing him at a time like that is incredibly out-of-character.

Not because he knows that she’s never shown interest in him (their conversation earlier–which I’ll get to–could’ve easily been referring to the guy she has a crush on, which Chat is aware of).

And not because it seems unlike her to not speak, not ask if he’s okay, and not comment on the fact that he saved himself.

It’s her scent that gives her away.

Just… really? (and no, I’m not going to get on Ladybug’s case for not noticing that the statue of Chat was a statue because she isn’t the one claiming that they’re meant to be)

Anyway, once Chat’s figured out that the statue was a fake, he uses Cataclysm and breaks it to pieces, which I would think would be a bit traumatizing, but apparently, Chat is 100% okay with staring into this Ladybug statue’s face as she becomes dust. I mean, he could’ve at least confirmed that it was taking his ring before he goes “you smell like wax and that’s suspicious despite the fact that we’ve been fighting wax statues this whole time so we could possibly have a lingering scent of it”.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Adrichat goes for a fourth save by bursting into Ladybug’s fight just in time to save her from getting an earring removed.

I’m all for Chat doing more and just generally contributing, but four flawless victories in one episode are way too much for him.

Regardless though, while on the subject of Chat, he also gets to teach Ladybug a “lesson” about talking to people about one’s feelings. Not only is it incredibly out of nowhere (given that this is in the middle of a fight and Ladybug doesn’t often bring personal issues into fights, especially mid-fight), but it’s yet another example of Adrichat “having all the answers” while simultaneously knowing nothing about anything.

His advice isn’t technically bad, but it’s not relevant. The real question that should be asked is why Chat has no problems flirting, but struggled to say “I love you” directly to Ladybug’s face back in “Dark Cupid”. For all the credit Ladybug seems to give him for being able to flirt with her, it’s not addressing any of the issues that Ladybug actually has (Marinette stated in this episode that she was scared of being rejected, which is what the conversation should’ve been about).

This is even ignoring the fact that the conversation is essentially pointless. All it did was make Marinette almost confess to Adrien before he cuts her off, but that’s not progress and doesn’t give much hope going forward.

(by the way, lowkey wanted to see Chat talk about how flirting was his way of working himself up to a confession, so Marinette goes back to Adrien and channels her inner Chat to flirt with him; cue a very confused Adrien and a flabbergasted Alya)

The episode had some good ideas, like Alya and Nino’s conversation in front of the statues of their akumatized selves, but it drops the ball so many times and on so many jokes that it’s not worth it.

And, while we’re on the subject of dropping the ball…

[Car-crossed Lovers]

So, the scene in the car, where Marinette and Adrien apologize to each other, starts well enough. Even if it was Adrien’s fault first, it does make sense for Marinette to feel just as bad (especially since she kissed him).

The problem comes from literally everything else.

I already brought up Adrien cutting Marinette off before she confesses and his line about “the girl I love”, but I want to touch on the latter once more.

That line is the thing that shifts the whole scene from a happy mood into total sadness, yet it makes no sense for why it had to happen.

Chat has talked about how his friendship with Ladybug is so important to him, yet he refers to her as if it’s like “oh, it’s just this girl I’m in love with” so out of nowhere?

And just to be clear, it’s not that I have an issue with him being in love or mentioning that he’s in love with a girl. My problem comes from the fact that his mention of her goes straight to his crush.

It’s not “my best friend” and then clarified to “oh, not Nino, it’s this girl I love”, it’s just a downgrade to “the girl I love”. It could’ve even been an, “I’m glad you aren’t in love with me, because I’m already in love with another girl and I wouldn’t want to hurt you. I know how that feels.”

But of course, we can’t waste our time with complexity and nuance; how else will we have time for Marinette to be miserable? We already took up all our other time doing more important things, like building up Manon’s akumatization and embarrassing Marinette!

*sigh* Which brings us to the subject of Marinette being depressed about Adrien loving another girl.

We’ve done this. We’ve already done this in “Frozer”, which takes place before this given that this episode features a statue of Phillipe, who was introduced in “Frozer”. Also, that episode isn’t insanely high on my favorite episodes list, but it did this plot better.

And to spend all this time on Chat talking to Ladybug about feelings and Alya and Nino trying to set Marinette up to confess to Adrien…

just to have Adrien drop the bomb on her? It’s not even like this’ll change anything, considering Alya and the rest of the girl squad will likely keep pushing Marinette to spend more time with him, claiming that he “just doesn’t know her yet”.

Not only that, but after Adrien went on earlier about how he’s “bad at friendship”, he proceeds to awkwardly sit in the car as Marinette slumps back in her seat and looks sadly out the window? Marinette gives him impassive and empty responses, yet Adrien drops the subject almost immediately. He hardly looks worried when she’s leaving the car to go into her house.

Adrien complains about himself, yet fails to do anything to correct it. If he’s going to drop the subject (accepting that Marinette just doesn’t want to talk with him), then he could call Nino or Alya and ask them what he did during the conversation to make Marinette upset. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s something to show that Adrien cares enough to take action.

Then, we have Tikki, who decides to not give any more of the good advice that she had previously in the episode (yet more proof that it was a one-time thing for the sake of humiliating Marinette). No, because instead, Tikki gives vague nonsense about how “life is full of surprises”.

Well, yes, Tikki, you’re technically right. Marinette hearing that Adrien was already in love with someone else was certainly a surprise despite the fact that, again, “Frozer” exists.

But, of course, this apparently makes Marinette feel better enough to not give up on Adrien (I presume, given that she didn’t rip off the picture on her board), despite it not being inspiring whatsoever and only acting as Tikki’s “generic jargon of the day.”

Also, this is extremely high up there in “worst times for the happy ending jingle ever”, just saying.

Now obviously, I understand that Tikki is doing this because she knows that Adrien has a crush on Ladybug. She doesn’t want Marinette to give up when she knows that Adrien is technically in love with her.

But, I have to ask… why?

Why is Marinette not allowed to move on and try with other people? In fact, that’s exactly what Tikki should be encouraging!

If Marinette is able to move on and her crush on Adrien is left to settle down, then she’ll be able to talk to Adrien properly.

Adrien will be able to see her more for who she really is.

He might even fall for her because of it.

But this? All Tikki is doing is stagnating Marinette’s development. She’s purposefully stunting Marinette’s growth and letting Marinette wallow in the fact that Adrien “doesn’t love her.”

And Tikki didn’t even have to give Marinette advice. She could’ve hugged her (”Origins”/”Princess Fragrance” style), whispered a few comforting words about how she believes that Marinette will work it out (which I would support because Tikki has information that she can’t tell, making her opinion more biased), and then asked if Marinette would be okay or if she needed anything.

I don’t ask for Tikki to have all the answers, but I want her to put less focus on the big picture (i.e: Marinette and Adrien are in love with each other in some way and, therefore, encouraging that they be together is best) and more on what’s good for Marinette now.

Would Adrien eventually fall for Marinette? Tikki doesn’t know. She’s banking on either that, or an eventual identity reveal. If neither of those things happen, Marinette stays depressed and it’s all Tikki’s fault.

And, okay, I am officially done with the show not letting Marinette be freaking sad. The scene between Adrien giving Marinette the metaphorical gut-punch to Marinette laying in bed with a casual smile is a pathetic thirty-eight seconds long. Her feeling humiliated before shifting her attention to Adrien’s pity party is less than twelve.

For basically the entire season, Marinette has either been treated unfairly or just been sad with no satisfying pay-off whatsoever.

Do you want proof? Do you want statistics? Because I have statistics.

I combed through every single episode that has aired so far and grabbed every single time that either Adrien or Marinette are truly sad/anxious. Heck, I was even generous and cut out when Marinette is having a total freak out versus being sad.

Season 3? A total mess. Here’s the facts:

Marinette has had tons of sad moments all through the season, already having more than she did in Season 1 despite Season 3 not even being close to over. Also, not only did Adrien get more screentime on average during his sad moments (in every season, honestly), but Marinette had an 80% chance of her moments being unsatisfying in Season 3 versus the coin flip of 50% in Season 2.

It’s… depressing. Marinette already goes through so much in her life (being friends with celebrities, acting as an honorary member of Kitty Section, going to school, working on her fashion, and–oh, y’know–BEING A SUPERHERO), yet the amount of stuff that keeps piling onto her just for the sake of making her suffer only seems to increase as time goes on.

And, yes, it’s natural for things to ramp up in intensity as seasons go on; new conflicts, new drama, and new obstacles are often introduced that test characters as they develop.

But that’s not what this is. This is the plot doing whatever it can to go against Marinette, either to force drama (seriously, the timing of that “girl I love” moment felt like it came out of a bad fanfic), force the conflict, or just make Marinette miserable.

So, essentially, a teenage girl needs to suffer needlessly to keep the status quo in check, and any attempts to do anything (whether it’s keeping within the status quo or not) will only end badly.

Ugh.

[ladylb]

To Cry

Chapter 20 : Epilogue

This chapter can found here on AO3

To start at the beginning, chapter 1 is here on AO3 or here on tumblr

Summary: Generally what happened in this alternate universe during the next decade or so, and a glimpse of Luka and Marinette's wedding.

...

Five years have now passed after Marinette had moved on from Adrien and discovered his identity, only to keep it to herself for much of that time, and they were still fighting Hawkmoth.

Hawkmoth was still somewhat active after all. Instead of attacks being a day apart, it could be weeks between attacks, but they had grown more dangerous than ever. Mayura would only appear every few months, and that was when they needed the full team.

Over half of the Miraculous now had permanent holders now, and having them just come to the battles ended them faster, something that they needed to do so that they wouldn’t be missing from their adult lives for long.

It was almost ironic looking back, because less than a month after Ladybug’s and Chat Noir’s one-time date five years ago, Adrien Agreste asked out Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

What he hadn’t known at the time, was that she had asked Luka Couffaine to be her boyfriend just two weeks prior.

Adrien really did have the worst luck, after a brief period of sadness and jealousy, he found a way to be happy for them, having realized that he had idolized Ladybug for too long and that missing his opportunity with Marinette was probably a consequence of that.

Marinette and Luka themselves dated since then and while they started out slowly, they became more serious about each other over time.

Luka of course became a backup guitarist to Jagged Stone for the start of his career, eventually becoming the opening act for him as Marinette started her own online boutique. On their fifth anniversary of their highly negotiated first date, not that anyone but they knew that, Luka proposed to her.

Their friends were happy for them.

Including a long-suffering Adrien, who was now really good friends with both of them.

Kim had gone on to a career as an Olympic Swimmer, just like his long-term girlfriend Ondine.

Alix shockingly became a historian and not so shockingly, a part time street artist.

Max built his own gaming empire with the help of Markov.

It almost seemed like everyone had moved on happily in their lives.

Life hadn’t been easy for everyone though.

Rumor was that even Lila found a profession that suited her back in Italy, she became a lawyer with aspirations to become a politician. There were rumors of some sort of scandal involving her now and then, but everyone had come to expect that. Thankfully, it all happened far from Paris and no one really cared when she was arrested for falsifying documents of her qualifications or whatever.

Most of her classmates were not surprised at all.

Kagami eventually had to move back to Japan, her mother had decided that it was time that she settle down and she gave her a choice between three perspective Japanese businessmen’s sons. At first Kagami didn’t want to do it, but after mutually deciding that Adrien was just a friend, after he never seemed to open up after losing the girl he loved so long ago, whom Kagami assumed was Marinette at first but now wasn't' so sure, Kagami thought that she didn’t have a choice. So, she gave each of the three guys a chance and finally found someone who could be more than just a friend with when she met the third guy. They were planning on getting married in a few months after they got to know each other better and Marinette was going to make her the wedding dress.

Chloe herself dated several different people, but just couldn’t find someone acceptable to her standards and followed her Mother to New York to find herself there. Her father joined them after he lost an election to be the Mayor.

Alya and Nino had been married for well over a year, but had been saddened by the fact that while they had been trying to have children, they just found out that they were infertile and Alya was unable to have children. They eventually decided to foster and then adopt once they were ready.

Adrien of course had gone on to be a supermodel and would leave Paris from time to time, entrusting Plagg to Viperion while he was out of town, and vice versa for the snake miraculous. They had been pleased to find out that some of the miraculous could be used together at the same time when necessary, but never for more than a brief period since it was draining on the wielder.

While Adrien’s life was lavish, he still couldn’t find someone that came close to his heart like Ladybug, Marinette or even Kagami had. He accepted that Marinette was now with Luka and he tried to be happy for his friends and not kick himself for his bad timing, which he had to do with Ladybug and Marinette and their boyfriends, err, fiancés, too.

Adrien sadly had allowed his father and Nathalie to arrange his dates for functions for the most part, but that was business, his life was still happier up on the rooftops when he ran patrol with his heroic friends. It was hard, but there was a part of him that felt like he would forever be alone.

…

Eventually, Chat Noir was surprised when Ladybug offered him an invitation to her wedding.

“I think it’s time Chat.” Marinette told Adrien, “this is an invitation to my wedding, and I’d like you to be there, knowing who I am, but I won’t force you to go if you don’t think it’s safe or if you’re not ready. I-I’ve finally decided that I want you to decide if you want to know who I am.”

Chat Noir remembered when she had told him three years prior that she knew who he was and had known for a long time already, but didn’t think that it was safe yet for her to tell him who she was. Ladybug hadn’t told him that she knew at first because she didn’t want to upset him and she felt certain that they wouldn’t have worked out.

Adrien felt like a heel that she may have been right to not trust him at the time with that fact.

Chat Noir still didn’t know why they wouldn't have worked out, but he trusted her now above all else and he knew that he still had a lot of growing up to do from when she found out, so he had no ill feelings about the matter.

He remembered how supportive she had been when he was seriously trying to give Kagami a chance to win him over, but it didn’t feel right and eventually they had mutually decided to separate.

Adrien appreciated that Ladybug gave him this chance to decide for himself and the opportunity to say no as he looked at the proffered enveloped.

So, Adrien had understood and apologized to her, for making her feel like he wouldn’t understand before and surprisingly, he did. It wasn’t a secret to him that she had begun dating Viperion’s secret identity either, and he was okay with that, now.

It reminded him how he had gotten annoyed when Marinette and Luka started dating just as he had finally begun to move on from Ladybug.

Adrien had never had a chance with Marinette, but Adrien had grown to understand that was his own fault now, he had focused on Ladybug for far too long and never even tried to ask her out or realize that Marinette deserved the world, just like Ladybug did.

He was fairly certain that if he had asked her out immediately after Lila’s exposed lies and her eventual move to another school, that maybe, just maybe, they would have had a chance. That is if he could give up on Ladybug and apologize profusely for his blindness, but he was a stubborn cat and that fact came back to haunt him.

Luka though, he was the smart one. He had waited until Marinette was ready and let her choose him, just as Adrien began to let go of Ladybug.

Adrien knew that he shouldn’t be jealous of the pair, but he was. They had a bit of a rough patch over that, the three of them that is, and he knew it was mostly his fault, but they worked through it and were good friends now. They even double dated a couple of times after Adrien found a girl that he was willing to date more than once, but he never took a girl out more than three times besides Kagami and he never had a steady girlfriend other than Kagami, because none of them could compare to a certain blue haired girl. Either side of her, not that he knew that.

As he looked at the invitation envelope that Ladybug was offering him, he finally realized that they’d all grown up and he would be an adult about this, make the Ladybug decision etc.

Which was why Chat Noir sighed as he pushed the invitation back towards Ladybug, “Milady, while I am honored that you would invite me, it’s enough for this cat to know that you’re happy.”

…

Eight months later, Kagami Ito and her husband greeted Adrien at Marinette and Luka’s wedding reception.

All of their friends were there.

Alya and Nino had the happy news that they’d been accepted as foster parents and now had twins, a set of fraternal twins to foster, a boy and a girl. A boy and a girl that Alya’s twin sisters were now watching while they attended the wedding, after their parents loaded them up with ice cream. Pay back was fun.

The garden that Luka and Marinette had rented for the reception was gorgeous.

Jagged and Penny came, after finding sitters of their own of course for their two kids and Fang, who was now too big to travel from their large estate, much to Jagged’s disappointment.

Still, the wedded pair greeted everyone and then they started the party, dancing the night away.

Luka insisted on taking a break to play a few songs with Jagged, since he wasn’t much of a natural ball room dancer, and passed his wife off to their good friend Adrien for a song as the two rockers tuned their guitars.

It was a long song during which Marinette thanked Adrien for coming, “thanks for coming Adrien, but you know what, I’ve changed my mind.”

Adrien looked at her quizzically, breaking out of his daydream that this party could have been for them if he hadn’t been so blind. Slightly uncomfortable about dancing with his gorgeous friend and for having such jealous thoughts, he allowed his Chat side out to tease her, “changed your mind about what Marinette? I mean, you’ve already signed the marriage certificate and had the Mayor marry you, right? It’s a little late to change your mind i think, and what would we tell Luka!”

She laughed, “you goof! But part of that’s true.” She glanced over at her husband, who just smiled and nodded at her knowingly to encourage her, “but I don’t regret marrying Luka, we’re good together and love each other.”

“Oh. Well, I could have told you that.” Adrien chuckled, “so it’s not about that though huh? Care to enlighten me?”

Marinette giggled and smiled up at him, “I just decided that after all,” she stood on her tip toes and whispered to him, “it wouldn’t have felt right if one of my best friends wasn’t here Kitty.”

Adrien’s mouth opened just so as that clue made him blink back his surprise once more as everything came together and he finally knew that he was holding his Lady in his arms, who wasn’t his anymore. She was Luka’s.

He swallowed and looked away from her as he tried to recover from the shock.

Adrien was quiet as they swayed to the song that was only half way through. Marinette gave him a minute to process, but she was getting nervous.

“Chaton, please say something.” She whispered.

“I’m, I’m putting the pieces together My Lady, just give me a moment.” He quietly pleaded.

She nodded, understanding how hard it was to comprehend. She only had a few years to paste together when she found out, but he had almost three times that amount of time to add Marinette to Ladybug to get Buginette, where the two people became one in his eyes.

It pained Adrien to admit it, but it made sense. Luka had always been there for her, for Marinette.

While he had only really been there for Ladybug, who while she was a part of Marinette, she wasn't the whole woman before him and never was.

Adrien sighed before he whispered as he pulled her closer to hug her as they danced, “tell me one thing My Lady.”

“Anything.” She whispered back.

“Are you Happy?”

He felt her relax as she nodded, “yes, yes I am.”

Adrien sighed once more contentedly, “then that’s all that I can ask.”

…

Of course, Marinette and Luka welcomed their first child two years later.

Strangely, after a bad storm took out all of the power in Paris for three days, Hawkmoth retired. He had a notice delivered to one of the team’s well-known meet-up places fifteen years after his reign of terror began that he would hide away his miraculous, unwilling to totally give it up. No one knew who he was or where the Butterfly or Peacock miraculous went, or at least that’s how it seemed.

Gabriel and Nathalie moved out of the mansion to a new mansion and were married quietly a few months later, much to Adrien’s pleasure. The old one was refurbished, had a basement and attic added and finally was sold as there were too many ghosts living there for either of the Agreste men to keep it.

Marinette and Luka would grow and be happy together, with their soon to be four children.

Adrien was a doting if sometimes absent Uncle to their children as well as Alya and Nino’s three. He did have a company to run after all now that he no longer modeled after his father began to turn the company over to him. He also would visit Kagami and her husband when in Japan, acting the part of uncle to their two children as well.

Everyone on the miraculous team would patrol once or twice a month, just to keep in shape and to reassure the citizens of Paris that they were still there, but it was an unspoken rule that the miraculous stayed in Paris, so when people left on vacation or moved, they would be left behind.

Occasionally there would be instances when the heroes would be needed, but in the end, Paris was safe and everyone was happy, and most importantly life went on… because it never ends.

- fin -

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Notes ( okay that last line is an altered version of a line from the movie “The Last Unicorn,” I don’t think I quoted it perfectly, but it was inspired by it.)

This story just naturally turned into a Lukanette story and a re-balancing of the team dynamics.

I honestly think that at the end of Season 3, when this story was written (not including the later episodes), Luka is the healthier and more mature guy that Marinette really needs in her life, not that she knows that in canon, but she's growing up too and has a lot to learn still, as does Adrien, so who know what will happen. I hope that Season 4 will be better than season three.

It's been fun to write this. Thanks everyone for reading!

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There is an angsty alternate sequel to this called To Cry Again . As a writer, I understand that there are some people that like angst and are totally into the Adrienette ship. It is more of the theorized version of how Adrienette is endgame, it's sad and angsty especially for Luka fans, sorry about that, I really do like him, but I couldn't help myself to write the angsty angsty ending

To Cry Again can be found here on AO3

[miraculouslbfangirl]

Fixing thing up

AO3

Part 1

Spoilers: Love eater and Miracle Queen

Marinette had Luka’s arms wrapped around her as tears fell from her eyes. Everything that happened that day was overwhelming and it was nice to have someone comforting her without asking questions she couldn’t answer.

The fact that Master Fu wasn’t there for her to return the Dragon Miraculous left an unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach, especially after seeing Hawkmoth withdraw the Akuma. That was the last drop of water that caused the dam to break.

However, she knew that Adrien was the main reason for her distress. She had even compromised the battle because of her jealousy. Seeing him and Kagami sharing that ice cream in such an intimate way clouded her judgments.

She should let him go for the sake of her sanity. But, could she? It would be easy to let Luka fill the emptiness of her heart, but wouldn’t be fair to him. She knew that her feelings for Adrien wouldn’t disappear magically and she would only hurt Luka in the process.

Marinette stepped back removing herself from the warmth of his embrace “I’m sorry Luka, I didn’t mean to….”

“Are you alright?” He asked at last.

“Yeah. I’m…” Marinette averted her gaze. He was so nice.

“It’s Adrien, isn’t it?” She could notice resignation in his voice.

“I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s just not meant to be.” Marinette trailed off as she hugged herself.

“Or maybe it is. I have a feeling that all you need to do is let him know how you feel.” With a gentle yet sad smile on his face, Luka motioned to the other side of the street where a blond boy stood looking like someone had kicked his puppy.

To say that Marinette was surprised was an understatement, she was shocked. “I… ahm…”

Luka chuckled bending to get his bike. “You deserve to be happy, Marinette.”

Instead of just walking away, Luka approached Adrien saying something that Marinette couldn’t hear. After visibly tensing, Adrien answered him sporting a determined face. The boys took their separate ways and Adrien made a beeline to her.

“Can we talk?” He asked with a hint of apprehension. Marinette nodded and he led her to the bridge that overlooked the Seine. “Is it true that you like me?” Adrien asked with no delay.

“I, hum… who told you?” Marinette stammered taken aback by his straightforwardness.

“I want the truth this time. No fashion admirer excuse, please.” He leaned his side on the parapet facing her.

“I do.” Marinette sighed and looked at the river with a lost stare. “It’s not like it matters since you like Kagami anyway.”

Adrien reached for her shoulder in an attempt to make her look at him but she didn’t. If he wanted to have that conversation she couldn’t look at him. “Why do you think I like Kagami?” he asked.

“Why?” She snorted. “You told me you loved someone, Adrien. And you had asked my help with Kagami. Now you ask why I thought you like her.” Her knuckles were turning white with the force she was using to grip the parapet. But it was all she could do to control the anger building up inside of her. Did he think she was an idiot?

Adrien flinched away a little, unused to be on the receiving end of her rage. The only other time had been when they first met and he didn’t want to repeat that. He decided that being honest was the best move just like it was back then under the rain. Honesty was what he wanted from her too, wasn’t it?

“I guess that I’m guilty at that. Making you think that Kagami was the girl I’m in love with.” He said in a low voice.

Marinette snapped her head to look at him confused “If it’s not Kagami; who is it? Why did you even ask my help with her then?” So many emotions in only one day were making her voice harsher than she intended.

“It’s a girl with whom I work. She likes another boy. I thought that going out with Kagami would work, but it didn’t.” He looked dejected, helpless. Marinette would have pitied him if not for the realization she just had.

“So, I’m your third choice.” She spat. “Wait, no. Why am I even considering myself a choice to you? You probably came here to reject me properly.” Marinette crossed her arms in front of her chest forcing the tears to not fall.

“Can you let me speak?” Adrien said visibly losing his control.

“Go ahead. Explain yourself.” She demanded motioning for him to continue.

Adrien shook his head but kept eye contact with her. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. If I want a chance for us I have to be honest with you.” She nodded but didn’t try to interrupt him. “I have loved this girl since the begging of the school year. Because of that I never allowed myself to look at anyone else as a potential love interest. That includes you. Actually, my goal with you was to become your friend which wasn’t an easy thing to do since you always ran from me.”

“I was too nervous around you, you know, because of my feelings” Marinette clarified.

Adrien smiled understandingly “I had no idea. In the beginning, I thought you hated me.” He chuckled “Anyway, becoming your friend was a victory for me, I wouldn’t jeopardize that. Not when I hadn’t a clue about your interest and I thought you liked Luka. Kagami, on the other hand, always let clear that she was interested in being more than friends.”

“So, when you decided to move on, you went for the obvious choice.” Marinette concluded, voice a little softer.

“Well, you kind of helped with that and it seemed to be the right thing. She was there, I had my heart broken, but it wasn’t. Then she said you liked me and … I… I like you, Marinette. I felt that with you it could be different.” He leaned forward resting his elbows on the parapet.

“That might not work either. I don’t feel like being a fallback. I thought about moving on from you with Luka.” She saw him gulp nervously. “But I knew that wouldn’t be fair to him and I don’t think that being with you while you love someone else would be fair to me either.”

“So, you’re rejecting me.” Adrien lowered his gaze to his hands.

“Not exactly, I really like you, Adrien. But I don’t want you to be with me just because the girl you love rejected you. What if she decides she wants you overnight? Where does that leave me?”

Marinette didn’t know where her strength came from. She had never imagined herself turning Adrien down like that. She just wanted to curl up in her bed and cry or maybe throw herself at him and kiss his sorrow away, but she couldn’t. With Kagami, she knew what to expect but that other girl was a mystery. There was no way she would have peace if she started a relationship with him like this.

“Look Marinette, if you say yes, I will be with you and only with you.” He looked at her pleadingly.

“Maybe, or maybe you’d feel torn. I don’t know how much you love her.”

“I…”

“Let’s not rush things.” She spared him from trying to explain.

“Could we go out more frequently at least? As friends, to get to know each other better?” He had such a hopeful expression on his face that Marinette couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sounds go…” she was cut short by Adrien’s arms lifting her and throwing her over the parapet.

“Plug your nose.” He instructed right before jumping after her.

Marinette could see bees flying everywhere as she did what she was told. They swam to under the bridge and returned to the surface when they couldn’t hold their breaths anymore.

“Where are they coming from?” She asked right before they dove again as bees came back to them.

Adrien stayed underwater but Marinette emerged right away to survey the area. There were bees everywhere and, for what she could conclude, they seemed to be hunting humans since the bees immediately chased her as soon as she put her head above water.

Marinette knew that neither she nor Adrien would be able to stay underwater. She submerged when she was almost at the bees reach, her mind racing trying to find possible solutions that wouldn’t need her transforming.

Once underwater she saw that Adrien had emerged just a few meters away but she was definitely not prepared for the light that covered his body as he was coming back down revealing a powered-up Chat Noir in its wake. She was held speechless and would have drowned had he not taken her from her stupor when he used his baton as an oxygen supply for her.

“We’ll talk about this later. I think you already know you can’t tell anyone.” Nod was all she could do to assure him as she tried not to freak out; she had more important things to deal with. “I don’t know exactly what’s happening but those bees look like the ones that Queen Wasp controlled.”

Master Fu, Marinette’s mind screamed at her. She knew something was off when she couldn’t find him. That was her fault. She screwed her eyes shut trying to regain her bearings.

“Marinette, calm down. Ladybug and I will deal with this as we always do.” He said putting a hand on her shoulder.

She shook her head. He didn’t understand. How could he? He didn’t know she was Ladybug. She pushed herself up to the surface hoping that her magical macaroons were still in conditions to be used. They were wet, of course, but she gave the acqua one to Tikki either way.

“Acqua Tikki spots on!” She sighed in relief when it worked and dashed back to where she had left Chat giving him back his baton.

“You…” He tried to say as he plugged the baton to his back but words failed him.

“We’ll talk about this later.” Ladybug repeated his previous words and he nodded his agreement. “This is my fault…”

She told him about Master Fu’s disappearance and he did his best to reassure her that they would deal with it. And they did. Together. Just the two of them against them all. He was by her side when Master Fu lost his memory and the weight of being the guardian fell on her shoulders. He was by her side when Master Fu boarded the train leaving their lives forever. He didn’t say or ask anything about their romantic relationship. They just stood side by side as their partnership reached a new level.

Only later they met at a rooftop to talk. They had refused their friends invite to grab an ice-cream at Andre. It was an unspoken agreement between them that that wasn’t the time.

“So, you’re the Guardian now.” Chat said as she sat by his side on the edge of the roof.

“I’m scared.” Ladybug felt his hand cover hers and give it a light squeeze.

“It’s a big responsibility, but Master Fu didn’t say you are the best miraculous holder he’d ever met for nothing. I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He took her hand in his and smiled reassuringly. “And I’ll be by your side, for whatever you need me for.”

The softness in his eyes melted Ladybug’s heart. She wrapped her arms around him burying her head in the crook of his neck. “Thank you.” She pulled herself from him reluctantly adjusting her position to look over the city and rest her head on his shoulder. “When you told me earlier that the girl you were in love with was someone you worked with…” she let the question unspoken.

“Who else could it be?” He said softly. “Guess I cannot resist your charms, My Lady.” She could sense that he was grinning and smiled at his use of the nickname for the first time since the moment she told him off for lying that he had a girlfriend.

“I needed confirmation.” She felt him shift his body and had to lift her head from his shoulder. He was looking at her now.

“Talking about confirmation, is Adrien the boy you turned me down for?” He smirked trying to tease her but apprehension was laced in his voice.

“Yes, he is the boy I love.” She teased back but he averted his gaze. She cupped his cheek to make him look at her. “You are the one I love.” Ladybug said softly resting her forehead on his.

“So, what now? Do we keep our agreement from earlier? Hang out to know each other better?” He asked.

“Why don’t we turn those into dates?” Chat looked at her surprised. “So many things happened today. I’m confused and scared of what we’re going to face from now on. But if there’s one thing that I’m sure of is that I love you.”

“And I love you” he grinned from ear to ear.

“I don’t see a reason for us not be together. Do you?”

“Nope.” He thought for a minute. “Maybe, my father.”

“I think we can manage.”

“What about Lila?” He added chuckling.

“Are you trying to make me give up on you?” Ladybug asked in mock offense.

“Just testing how strong your love is.” She punched his arms lightly. “Hey! I said your love, not how strong you are.” He rubbed his arms.

“It’s not strong enough for your dramatics.” She got up pretending to leave. He rose too, reaching for her hand, spinning her and dipping her for an over-dramatic kiss that left her breathless.

“I think you love my dramatics.” He said smirking still holding her in a dip.

She shut him up bringing him down for another kiss by his bell.

[mrs-berry]

Akumatized / Aged Up / ?

Part 19, 22, and ? of Avril Amour (Adrinette April 2019)

By mrs_berry

@adrinetteapril

Click here to read on AO3!

WARNING: This fic contains mentions of suicidal thoughts. Please do not read if this will trigger you or make you uncomfortable.

"Thank you for telling me your feelings, Marinette. I'm flattered," Adrien gave her a warm smile, which then vanished as he hesitated to continue. Biting his lip, he struggled to get his next words out. He didn't want to hurt this amazing young woman, his close friend and former classmate. But he had little choice, as he knew she hated liars and he needed to tell her the truth. "But I love someone else."

Marinette's throat was dry. She had a strong inkling that was the case and her instincts were rarely wrong, but it was a whole different story to have it actually confirmed by the man himself. She licked her lips and cleared her throat.

"W-who?" she croaked out. Maybe she shouldn't ask, but she felt she at least wanted to know who he could have fallen for without her noticing. She had watched him so carefully for years and he had treated everyone the same; yet apparently, there was a special someone after all.

Adrien chuckled awkwardly and shifted his weight between his feet. His arm came up as he reached to scratch at the back of his neck in an anxious gesture.

"Um, it's Ladybug," he reluctantly answered. He felt she deserved as much, being that she was a close friend and was always honest with him. He was worried, though, that she would ask further questions, not believe him, or think his love was for shallow reasons.

However, it seemed those particular worries were unwarranted. Instead, something much worse was about to take place.

"Look out!" Adrien cried out and was just about to barrel into her to knock her out the way.

Unfortunately, he was too late. Marinette was already engulfed in purple smoke, having been possessed by one of Hawk Moth's evil butterflies.

The only stroke of luck was that he had seen the object that held the akuma: her earrings.

Marinette reappeared from the smoke in a new form. Her hair was loose and looked like threads used for sewing; different colours throughout her head gave her a very colourful hair style. Her clothes were all patchy and full of stitches; they reminded Adrien of the characters in a Tim Burton movie. And in her hands were two giant sewing needles the size of swords.

Marinette went still as the purple moth frame appeared over her face and allowed Hawk Moth to communicate with her.

Adrien could not hear his voice, so instead he grabbed her shoulders and tried to reason with her. But it was to no avail as she could not hear him over Hawk Moth's voice.

"Yes, Hawk Moth. But first, I must mend my heart by breaking others. Specifically, Adrien Agreste's."

With that, the communicator disappeared and Marinette was ready for action.

In that moment, Marinette raised the needle in her right hand and swung it down with great force, in an effort to hit her target.

Adrien, thankfully, somersaulted out of the way in time with a yelp.

"Stop this, Marinette, this isn't you! This isn't what you would want!" Adrien called out, trying again to reason with her.

"Shut up! My name is Anti-Seamstress! I will be the one unravelling your heart this time!" she barked out angrily, before darting towards him again.

Adrien kept doing his best to dodge, but his civilian self just didn't have the speed and agility that he had in his superhero form. As a result, he knew he needed to get away in order to transform, but was having difficulty finding an opening.

"Marinette, please don't be upset! You're still amazing and any guy would be lucky to have you," he reassured, dancing out of the way of her left-handed attack this time. "I'm just too dumb and loyal to be that guy."

Anti-Seamstress looked hurt for a moment, rather than raging mad.

"Why?" she mumbled, as if to herself.

Adrien was stunned. She seemed to have gained control of herself just now. But the moment was fleeting.

"Why does everyone prefer Ladybug?" she spat, regaining her anger. "Why is she so much better?"

Lashing out again, her weapon missed Adrien's body by a mere thread.

He couldn't directly answer without hurting her or giving away his identity, so he tried comforting her again.

"Don't compare yourself to a superhero! You have so many wonderful qualities and people who love you!"

Her face went livid, as she paused mid-attack.

Straightening herself and walking ominously slow towards Adrien, he could feel goosebumps. It turned out that someone as sweet and helpful as Marinette could be very fierce and intimidating as a villain.

"Oh? You say that... yet you don't love me. You say that and yet I am Ladybug. So I can compare myself all I want and you can stop pretending you love me when you don't even love my real self," she spoke with an eerily calm and even voice. Yet, the venom and sharpness pierced into Adrien's heart even before the needle itself followed through and hit its mark.

Negative feelings impaled him along with the sharp blade. He felt happiness and joy being sapped out of him, while being replaced with every horrible emotion imaginable. Despair, loneliness, anxiety, rage, rejection, inadequacy, worthlessness; all of these and more overtook every fibre of his being.

And a voice filled his mind with hurtful words: Ladybug will never love you. Your father doesn't love you. Your friends deserve better than you. You're useless. Nobody wants you around. You don't deserve to live. The world would be better off without you.

Adrien broke as these types of thoughts trapped him. Tears freely flowed out of his eyes and his heart began to tear in two.

"Adrien," a soft voice whispered.

He bit his lip and put his face into his hands as sobs racked throughout his entire being.

"Adrien!" the voice spoke with more urgency. Suddenly, his shoulders began shaking, but not from his sobs.

Adrien gasped, as his eyes snapped open and he found himself in completely different surroundings with hands firmly gripping his shoulders.

It took him several moments to register where he was and who had been calling his name.

He finally recognized it as a bedroom.

His cheeks were suddenly gently cupped and his head was forced to the side to look at the woman who had been calling his name.

Marinette.

After a few more seconds, reality finally came flooding back.

Marinette, his wife, gazed deeply into his eyes. He then realized he was in their bedroom.

"Hey, sweetie-kitty, are you okay now?" she cooed, wiping the tears that were still leaking from his eyes.

Adrien swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded.

"Looks like you were having a pretty bad nightmare," she noted with a twinkle of sympathy and worry in her eyes. "Want to tell me about it?"

"Um..." Adrien shook his head and cleared his throat. "Maybe later. Right now, can we just cuddle?"

Marinette gave him a loving smile.

"Of course, anything you need, my love," she reassured, peppering a few kisses on his now dry face, and then snuggled into his arms and traced meaningless patterns onto his bare chest with a gentle finger.

They went silent and Adrien took comfort in the feeling of her warm body against his and her finger dancing along his torso, the only noise being their breathing.

After he felt grounded enough, he decided to tell her about his nightmare, just to get it off his chest.

"You were akumatized," he whispered.

Marinette shifted back to look up into his eyes. She searched them for a moment, probably trying to decide how to respond. After finding what it was she was looking for, an amused smile took over her lips.

"Oh dear. Did you forget to pick Emma and Louis up from school in your dream?" she asked with a giggle. She was joking, of course, trying to lighten the mood and lift his spirits.

Adrien chuckled, nuzzling into his wife's silky smooth locks.

"Nope. I rejected you for Ladybug," he sighed, the smile slipping away from his lips, sounding upset with himself.

"Well I don't blame you. Ladybug rocked that spandex outfit," she smirked and swept her fingernails lightly along his chest in attempt to tickle him. She was pleased with the laughter she had brought out.

"You still would, you know," Adrien admitted in a husky voice.

"Oh you!" Marinette swatted him in mock-scolding. "Then again, I'm sure you'd also still rock the leather skin-tight suit. You still have managed to avoid the dreaded dad-bod that people expect fathers to develop."

That earned some more hearty chuckles from her husband.

"Anyway, I'm sorry that I was a little crazy back then," Marinette pouted and gave him puppy eyes.

"You weren't!" Adrien immediately defended her. "I was just oblivious, blind, and in denial!"

Marinette laughed and slid her fingers into his hair.

"That was part of your charm, though. So innocent and blindly devoted to the first girl you fell for," she said with a wink.

He beamed at her. She was so sweet and he always wondered how he had been so lucky to end up with her. He rubbed circles on her back as he looked into her brilliant blue eyes that were crinkled into an equally brilliant smile.

She gave him a quick peck, before her expression morphed into something more serious.

"So, what exactly was it that made my sweet husband cry? Did I say something hurtful?"

Adrien bit his lip. It was kind of hard to voice what his deepest dark thoughts had been. She knew everything about him, though, including the insecurities he held back then. He just hadn't felt them in such a long time; it had hurt feeling them again as though they were fresh and still prominent in his heart.

Marinette remained silent. She didn't want to force him and she would let him speak on his own terms.

"You stabbed me with a magical needle and caused my heart to break from all the negative emotions and thoughts I had ever had. It was both physically and psychologically the most pain I had ever experienced and it all happened in a matter of seconds... it was just overwhelming," Adrien quietly explained. "And the thoughts were... very dark and suicidal. I wouldn't wish them upon anyone."

Marinette looked into her partner's sad eyes as he spilled his nightmare's secrets. Gently, she pulled herself up higher on the bed, then pulled his head into her chest to cradle him and protect him from the harsh world.

"I'm so sorry, Adrien. I'm sure it must have been awful. I wish I could have woken you sooner," she whispered comfortingly into his hair.

He wrapped his arms around her and indulged himself by burrowing his face into her soft chest, covered by the softest fabric he had ever felt. Trust a designer to wear the softest and highest quality fabrics to bed.

He smiled, then. His nightmare had been truly terrible, but it had made waking up so much better. It made him appreciate all over again how amazing his life was now.

"I love you, Marinette. Ladybug. Light of my life," he murmured and then pulled back to look at her gorgeous face.

Smiling sweetly, Marinette put her forehead to his.

"I love you, Adrien. Chat Noir. Apple of my eye," she murmured back.

Adrien pulled her in for a loving kiss and more; nightmares and akumatizations now the furthest things from their minds.

[quicksilversquared]

There’s No Camembert in Tibet: Ch. 1

The Plagg and the Butterfly Costume sequel!

With Hawkmoth defeated and school out for the summer, it’s time for Ladybug and Chat Noir plus their newly-assembled team of superheroes to head to Tibet to try to rescue Mrs. Agreste. Hiking, magic, and adventures await them, and hopefully at the end, they’ll be returning to Paris with Mrs. Agreste in tow.

(AO3) (FF.net)

"Are you sure you have enough clothes packed? That's really not a lot. I thought that we were going to be gone for weeks."

Marinette laughed and tossed a pair of socks at her boyfriend instead of putting them in her suitcase. They sailed past his head and hit one of her mannequins instead. "We're not planning on being gone forever, kitty. And we can wash stuff in a stream or something while we're in Tibet. I think I have enough."

"Besides, if you're successful, you guys will probably spend the whole trip back to the airport transformed," Tikki pointed out from where she was perched on Marinette's desk. "To keep your identities safe and all that. And you might spend part of the trip out to the temple ruins transformed, too, if we can pack enough food. So you wouldn't have to change clothes as often if you do that. Outer clothes, that is."

"I've just never really traveled much before," Adrien admitted, settling down on Marinette's chair and watching as she rearranged the clothes in her suitcase so they would fit better. "I don't know if I packed enough, or too much, or what. Plagg isn't any help."

Plagg made a rather half-hearted noise of protest from where he was lounging in the remains of a bowl of cheesy popcorn. Marinette laughed again.

"We can go check on your packing after I finish up here, okay? We can use the packing list Maman gave me to make sure you have everything you need." Marinette glanced at the list again and then set it aside so she could zip up her backpack. "And to make sure you didn't over-pack. We're going to be carrying everything for a while, you know. Anything too bulky will cause problems."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah, I know. And Nino's already been sure to remind me that I'm not going to be able to shower as often as normal." He let out a huff. "And his definition of my 'normal' is several times a day, and nothing I say can change his mind- and now my girlfriend is laughing at me again!"

Marinette was cackling. "Oh, it's your own fault!" she managed. "You and your habit of hopping into the shower whenever akumas were after you!"

Adrien was still trying to protest that that wasn't fair, she knew that he hadn't actually been in the shower those times, what other choice had he had when Marinette's mom popped up into her room to check on them, Nooroo perched on her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow at the socks draped over the base of one of the mannequins and Marinette scrambled to pick them up.

"I rather thought you were packing," her mother said placidly as Marinette stuffed the socks back into their drawer. "That didn't look like packing to me."

"I'm done," Marinette said quickly, pointing to the suitcase. "We were just talking about going over to Adrien's house so I could make sure that he hasn't packed too much. Or too little, we don't know what to expect."

"Nathalie hasn't insisted on doing a check herself?" Mrs. Cheng looked surprised. "I would have thought that she would. She seems the type."

Adrien just shook his head. "She doesn't actually know where we're going, so she would be suspicious if she looked through and didn't see, like, dress shoes or something. She wouldn't see a problem with having a lot of weight because I overpacked. And she already has enough to take care of right now without supervising me too much."

"Okay, then maybe you should go over right away and get that done," Mrs. Cheng told them. "After all, Alya and Nino will be coming over later, and you know you won't want to leave once they're here. I know you could do it a little later in the week since we still have a few days yet, but it's better to be ready early."

"Yes, Mom," Marinette said immediately, and Adrien echoed with a "Yes, Mrs. Cheng."

Five minutes later, Ladybug and Chat Noir were racing over the rooftops towards Adrien's house. There were a lot of crowds below as kids milled around, enjoying the summer sun. Some pointed up at the superheroes, but most only spared them a glance. Now that Hawkmoth was in jail- well, on trial and being held in jail in the meantime- and there was barely any need for the superheroes, people didn't pay quite as much attention to them as they had before. Besides, they had become quite the common sight over the last year, and the novelty of the superheroes had finally started to wear off a bit.

It wasn't long before the two of them reached Adrien's house and slipped inside, unseen by a few lingering reporters by the front gate. Despite laws that had passed banning harassment of family members of criminals especially when those family members were minors, some reporters still seemed to think that those laws didn't apply to them and hung out near the mansion walls in hopes of a scoop in the form of an interview with Hawkmoth's son. Adrien wasn't sure if they just wanted a tearful story of betrayal or if they were hoping to trick him into 'confessing' that he had actually worked alongside his father, even though the police had already long since cleared him of all suspicion.

(It had helped Adrien's case greatly that he had been targeted by akumas several times and almost died, and it also helped to have both Ladybug and Chat Noir vouch for him, though of course Chat Noir had had mysterious family obligations to attend whenever Adrien had to show up. Still, that didn't dissuade some people on the prowl for a scandalous story.)

The two superheroes dropped in through Adrien's open window and detransformed. Plagg and Tikki made a beeline for the combination cabinet/fridge under Adrien's desk while Adrien led Marinette towards his suitcase and the piles of clothes set up in and around it on his bed. He hadn't been quite sure what to pack (other than not fancy clothes, which was pretty obvious), so there was a bit of everything set out. Marinette groaned at him and dove into the piles, packing some things into the suitcase and shoving other piles into Adrien's arms so he could put them away later on. Adrien did as he was told, happy to have the guidance.

"Part of me wishes that there weren't so many of us going on this trip," Adrien said as he put away the set of hand towels that he had gotten out just in case, Marinette, I didn't know if they might come in handy for something, stop rolling your eyes at me. "I mean, it'll be fun to spend time with the other Miraculous holders, and I know we need all of us to free my mom, but I'd love to be able to go on a vacation with just you and your family."

"It's not exactly a vacation," Marinette pointed out, tossing a jean jacket towards him. "It's a trip, yeah, but think more business trip than vacation even though we'll be doing a lot of hiking. And it'll be fun to hang out with Nino and Alya."

"I know. I think I'm just worried about having to spend so much time with Chloe while we're out in the wilderness. She doesn't do wilderness, and I'm worried that she might get really prickly after the first few hours." It had been a surprise when Master Fu had picked Chloe of all people to be a Miraculous holder for the bee, but she really did come through for Adrien after Mr. Agreste was arrested. Instead of pestering her father for a larger allowance or new dresses like she normally did, she tried to persuade her father to up the enforcement of a law that was supposed to keep reporters following Adrien around at all. She also pestered him to pass a law that kept anyone from cornering Ladybug and Chat Noir in search of more information than they had already given the police, even before knowing that Adrien was Chat Noir and that he was in no mood to be hounded for any information.

Pollen had been pleased- she liked her holders complicated and prickly, and it was probably the best match in centuries since the temple monks always weeded out people who weren't nice all the time. She had been working with Chloe to redirect the snark and the rudeness towards people who actually deserved it and while the two of them hadn't been together terribly long, only for a couple weeks before the end of the school year, Adrien had already seen some change- actual permanent, consistent change, not the little bits of improvement that vanished immediately afterwards like Chloe had been showing earlier in the school year. She had even apologized to people on her own accord, without throwing in any backhand insults.

Still, bad habits were hard to break, and it would be all too easy to fall back on those bad habits when they were tired and footsore and out in the middle of nowhere. If Chloe went bratty and spiteful on their journey, she would make it very, very unpleasant for the rest of them.

"Ooh, do you think we should stop over there to make sure her packing isn't as ridiculous as yours?" Marinette asked, pausing partway through re-folding a shirt. "If she ruins her expensive shoes or stains some designer shirt on our hike, we'll never hear the end of it."

Adrien winced at the thought. "Oh, yeah. That's probably a good idea."

"What did she tell her father about the trip, do you know?"

Adrien could only shrug helplessly. Chloe hadn't told him exactly what she had told her father, she just turned up at the bakery one morning waving seven plane tickets and telling him and Marinette that her father would be paying for the plane tickets and for any hotels that they would be staying at. Adrien would have argued and insisted that his family pay, since his parents were the reason that the seven of them even had to go to Tibet in the first place, but his father's accounts had been largely frozen and any large spending would be questioned and examined, both by Nathalie and the police.

On top of that, as far as Nathalie was concerned, Adrien was tagging along with Marinette and Sabine and only Marinette and Sabine on their trip to visit Sabine's parents. She would seriously question any other expenses, especially when he was supposedly staying with Marinette's extended family. They didn't want to tip her off about Adrien and Marinette and the others being Miraculous holders, just to be safe.

"We'll go over to visit and check on her packing after I've gotten you straightened out," Marinette decided. "And speaking of which- Adrien, why on earth would you need a winter jacket like this? It's summer! And if we go through any cold areas, we can just transform and speed through. It's too bulky"

Adrien just shrugged and took the jacket so he could set it aside.

"And- Adrien! Do they never teach rich people how to pack? You are not bringing your entire pillow!"

  "I come bearing gifts," Alya droned as she and Nino pushed their way through the trapdoor into Marinette's room. She was carrying what looked like a duffel bag attached to her back and was carrying another. Nino was carrying another one- and on second glance, the bags looked more like a hybrid between a duffel bag and a backpack. "Come over here and help, you two."

Adrien rolled off of Marinette's lap and onto the floor so he could push himself up and head over. He took Alya's second backpack and hauled it over to where Marinette was still sitting.

"Are those backpacking bags?" Marinette asked, leaning forward to get a better look. "Oh, sweet! Those will be easier to carry than suitcases, for sure. Especially if we can't get everything to fit in Master Fu's shield."

"My family has five," Alya reported, shrugging her backpack off. Nino did the same. "One that's mine, my parents' current backpacks, and then their old ones. I figured Nino and I could use two of them, and then you two and Marinette's mom could use the other three. I was going to offer one to Chloe, but she said that she was going to get a new one instead of using a ratty old thing." She paused. "But she said thanks for the idea, so there's that."

Adrien hastily muffled a laugh.

"I just wish I had one for Master Fu," Alya added on. "But I think they would all be too big for him anyway."

"He'll be transformed most of the time," Marinette reminded her. "And he can just carry bags in his shell, too. But it'll be nice to not be piling seven suitcases into the shell behind him."

"And the bags will vanish if you're wearing them when you transform," Duusu piped up, flying up to perch on Nino's head. "Which it wouldn't do with a suitcase, because you can't wear those. So this is definitely a better solution."

Adrien let out a sigh. "And just when I had gotten my suitcase packed up nice and pretty, too," he said, pretending to be mournful. "Now I gotta go and rearrange everything again."

Marinette poked his side. "You mean just when I had just gotten your suitcase all arranged nice and pretty, kitty," she teased. "I'm not sure that you had all that much to do with it!"

"I put things that you said I wouldn't need away!"

"And who took those things out in the first place, I wonder?" Nino joked. He grinned when Adrien made a face at him.

"Wait, when did you tell Chloe about the backpacks?" Marinette asked Alya as the two boys made faces at each other. "Adrien and I were just there!"

"Really? When?" Alya exclaimed. "We didn't see you at all! We were there maybe half an hour ago."

"We left an hour and a half ago," Adrien piped up. "After making sure that Chloe wasn't going overboard with her packing." He grinned. "All we learned was that she took the opportunity to go shopping and ran with it. I swear everything she has for the trip is both new and top of the line hiking stuff, and she'll probably only use it this once." Some of the things that she had bought made sense, because she hadn't owned anything that she could use instead- new hiking boots and a tent, mostly- while everything else was just cute outfits made with hardy fabric that would be easy to hike and climb in but wouldn't tear or stain as easily as normal stuff, and that also had sun protection worked in. Chloe had spent most of their visit modeling the pieces she had bought, arranging her stylish yellow sun hat on her head as she spun around on an imaginary catwalk.

He was glad that she was having fun with it now. Somehow he suspected that Chloe wouldn't be so cheery once they got to the actual hiking part of the trip, but that was a problem for later.

"Did she tell you what she's told Sabrina about why she'll be gone?" Alya asked. "Or has she pulled another thing where she doesn't tell anyone anything and yet everyone just accepts it?"

"The latter, I think," Adrien said with a laugh. Chloe had a talent for that, as annoying and pushy as it could be sometimes. She didn't ask for permission, she told people something and made it very clear that she would be giving out no further information, so clear that people often didn't bother asking for clarification because they knew they wouldn't get it.

Nino let out a huff. "Man, I wish I could do that. My parents almost didn't let me go, and that would have sucked."

Alya just shook her head. "As much as I wish that I could get away with that, I think I prefer having to deal with my parents wanting to know where I'm going to be and why."

Adrien had to nod in agreement. Chloe got away with things because her father was too busy to pay her much attention. It wasn't something to be jealous of.

"I can't wait until we go," Alya said after a few moments of silence. "I've spent a chunk of my allowance on portable battery rechargers and extra batteries for my camera, so that I won't run out at all on the trip. I've looked up photos from the region, and they're all gorgeous."

"I've been telling her what I remember!" Trixx piped up, popping out of Alya's hair and grinning when they all jumped. "About how pretty everything is, and all of the mountains. It'll be nice to go back and see everything again, but it'll be sad to see the temples all smashed."

"I'm glad it was smashed," Plagg grumbled from the desk. He burped loudly. "That wasn't how the Miraculous were meant to be used. They weren't meant to all be collected and kept in one place."

Tikki gave him a reproachful look. "It would have been better if they just disbanded on their own like we were telling them to do, instead of being attacked and destroyed. There was some good information that they were discovering, and a lot of the research was lost. And there were a lot of deaths."

"A sign from the universe, then."

Tikki looked like she was about to explode.

"I'm looking forward to it, too," Marinette said a little loudly before the kwamis could start arguing. "Until we found out who Hawkmoth was, I was thinking that the fights might go on for years and I wouldn't be able to leave Paris at all until it was all over, so it's nice to do a trip like this now even if we were only tied to the city for less than a year. Besides, Master Fu keeps telling us more stories about what it was like, and I bet he'll tell more once we're actually in Tibet."

"That's going to be great," Alya said, grinning. "Ooh, I know I'm going to record it all, but I so wish that I could put it on my blog. But I can't, and I know I can't, and not just because my parents think that I'm going with you to visit your family and would wonder when I had the time to wander off and find an old Miraculous holder."

"I'm officially jealous that you don't have to lie to your parents, Marinette," Nino told her. "We're all going to have to make up stories except for you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow at her friends. "You forget that I had to lie to my parents for a year. At least for you it's going to be a one-time thing."

"But a big one-time thing," Alya countered.

"Hey, at least you have a cover story in place now. And you're getting out of babysitting." Adrien grinned when Alya pumped her fist in victory. "And you aren't missing class and getting in trouble like Mari and I did."

"I just really hope that my parents don't talk to Nathalie at all," Alya said after a moment at all. "Or Nino's parents. That could make things really difficult."

They all cringed at the thought of what Nathalie might do if it came out that Adrien wasn't the only one traveling with Marinette and Mrs. Cheng. She would probably interrogate whatever poor parent had made the mistake of talking to her, and then storm right over to the bakery and demand to speak with Marinette's dad. She was sharp enough that she would be able to figure out that the extra people on the trip probably wasn't the only thing that they were hiding from her.

"Well, Nathalie will probably be pretty busy," Adrien pointed out after a moment. "There's all sorts of paperwork for the business that she's trying to go through. My dad isn't in charge anymore but since he was the founder, she has to figure out what parts of it we might still have. I think there's shareholder stock or something like that, and my mom had a higher-up position there as well, but..." Adrien shrugged. He hadn't really been interested in the details, and Nathalie hadn't really given him more information than that anyway. "She trusts Marinette's parents, so I doubt that she would actively go looking for you or Nino. Or your parents."

"Is that a very long-winded way of saying that Nathalie won't be out and about to run into our families anyway?" Nino joked. "I'm not surprised. She was always busy before, and everything with your father has got to be an absolute pile of paperwork."

Adrien just made a bit of a face and nodded. No one missed how Adrien shifted slightly closer to Marinette, brushing his fingers against Marinette's hand. She took his hand at once, twining her fingers with his.

The whole topic of his father could still be a bit touchy, but he was slowly getting over it. Slowly.

"Speaking of being busy, what if your dad doing with you mom on the trip?" Nino asked Marinette. "He's not trying to run the bakery by himself, is he?"

Marinette snorted with laughter. "He never runs the bakery by himself- or with just him and my mom, either. They have helpers in the back to prep in the morning and early afternoon every day. But yeah, he's hiring someone to cover the counter for the summer. Once we get back, then my mom will just work in the back. Or she'll do the decorating out front, but just not cover the counter unless the worker needs a break."

From there, the four of them settled down to play some board games before dinner. Conversation jumped from topic to topic as they talked about the end of the school year and what their other friends were up to. Nino talked excitedly about some new music that had come out that he just couldn't wait to mix, but it would have to wait until after their trip. Alya showed them all her camera and all of the settings it had. The kwamis chimed in, bringing the number of players from four up to seven (Plagg had decided not to play, instead spending the time savoring a chunk of Gouda that Adrien had handed him).

It was normal and it was fun and relaxing and best of all, Adrien wasn't going to get called away for a photoshoot or some other activity that he didn't really want to attend.

  The day before the seven of them left for Tibet and their Mrs. Agreste rescue mission, Mr. Agreste was finally formally sentenced. He got fifteen to twenty years in prison, which Adrien didn't think was entirely enough, considering that he had engaged in magical domestic terrorism and, had Ladybug not been there, people- a lot of people- would have died in the attacks.

But Ladybug had been there and there was no lasting damage from the attacks, and the public didn't know about the "equivalent exchange" that would have occurred had Ladybug and Chat Noir failed to win. The people in charge of the sentencing had been swayed a bit by the fact that the attacks had been fueled by love- Mr. Agreste was just missing his wife, some people had said. And while yes, most people dealing with loss and grief didn't resort to terrorizing a city in an attempt to get magical artifacts to recover their lost family members, the changed timeline, had he achieved that, would have resulted in the erasing of the akuma attacks entirely.

Adrien was sour about that, just a bit. After all, he knew about the exchange that would have been required and so had his father, which meant that he knew that someone would have died or at least been trapped like Adrien's mother had in her place. Adrien knew that his father had deliberately provoked people to get upset so that he could akumatize them, knew that he had endangered people and hadn't cared, even if Ladybug's Cure would fix it if she won and that the altered timeline would make it never happen if Hawkmoth had come out on top.

But at least his father would be locked up until well after when Adrien would have moved out and gotten a job and established his own life well enough that his father wouldn't be able to ruin it. That was a positive, at least.

"I won't tell your father that you're out of the country," Nathalie promised Adrien as she helped him carry his stuffed backpack out to the car, where the Gorilla was waiting to bring him over to the Dupain-Cheng house. "If he even tries to contact us at all, which I'm not entirely sure that he'll be allowed to. I'll just tell him that you aren't interested in being in contact with him at the moment."

That much was true, at least. Grinning, Adrien thanked Nathalie, gave her a hug (she had gotten better at not stiffening up when hugged over the past few months), said good-bye and promised to give her at least a little heads up before coming home, and then hopped in the car. The Gorilla pulled away smoothly, giving the reporters lingering near the gate a glare. Several hastily beat a retreat- Nathalie had called the police on them before, and it was an experience that none of them would really want to repeat- while others brazenly surged forward, lifting cameras to snap a photo of Adrien for whatever story they were going to run.

Adrien ignored them, making sure that he looked unbothered as he leaned one arm against the window and checked his phone. Chloe had sent a picture of her new backpacking bag and was showing it off along with one of her hiking outfits. The pack was so very Chloe- how she had managed to get a yellow and black backpack on such short notice, he had no idea- and it definitely went with her outfit. He sent back a text telling her so before leaning back and watching as they drew closer to the bakery, where he would be staying overnight with Marinette and Nino and Alya before leaving for the airport bright and early.

They pulled up to the curb, and Adrien hopped out. The Gorilla handed him his backpack and escorted him to the steps, staying there like a protective, looming shadow until Marinette answered the door and ushered Adrien in. His stern expression brightened when Marinette gifted him with a box of assorted pastries from the bakery. With one last wave to Adrien, the Gorilla hopped back in the car and left.

"Nino and Alya are coming over after dinner," Marinette told Adrien as they headed upstairs. "Because their families wanted to have a few more hours with them. And Chloe is just going to meet us at the airport."

"And Master Fu?"

"We'll pick him up on our way to the airport tomorrow."

Upstairs, Adrien spotted Tikki and Nooroo perched in front of the TV, watching a cooking show. They each had a bowl of snacks set out for them, and there was a third bowl filled with cheesy popcorn for Plagg. Plagg zipped off with a squeal, and Adrien and Marinette continued up to Marinette's room.

"I'd set up my sleeping bag up, but I think we all know that I wouldn't use it," Adrien joked. He grinned at Marinette's blush. "So shy, buginette! It's like we haven't been sharing a bed most nights for a couple months now."

"It's different when Nino and Alya are going to be in the same room!" Marinette protested. "And it was only most nights at first."

Adrien was trying not to laugh. "How does Alya and Nino being here change anything? Your parents always know when I'm sleeping over."

"It just does! You know that they're going to take pictures of us sleeping."

Adrien stretched out across Marinette's lounger while she sketched out a few designs at her desk. It was a bit warm in Marinette's house- a side effect of being located above a bakery- but not yet unbearable. He watched his girlfriend sketch, occasionally muttering to herself as she changed something or came up with a new idea. There were periods of silence as Marinette regarded a design, and occasional periods where her pencil scribbled frantically.

"You're bringing sketchbooks on the trip, right?" Adrien asked during one of Marinette's longer pauses. "You'll probably get inspired by the scenery."

"I am, but I don't know if I'll actually have the time to design." Marinette regarded her notebook again. "We'll be hiking pretty much all day, and then once we stop, it'll be too dark to sketch."

"I could carry you while you design," Adrien offered. "I mean, I would transform first," he added quickly when Marinette shot him a dubious look. "Or I suppose you could hop into Master Fu's shell for a few minutes if he's transformed and just float along with the rest of us while you get your ideas down."

"But if I got into the shell to ride for a bit, I don't know if I would want to get back out and walk," Marinette said with a laugh. "And I don't know how well I'd be able to draw if you were just carrying me along. My drawing might come out a bit bumpy."

Adrien grinned, wide enough that he was sure Marinette could see it. "Aw, but Princess. Don't you know that I have a catlike stride? Purr-fectly smooth."

Marinette laughed.

By the time Marinette's mother called them down for lunch, the two of them had long since abandoned the designing and lounging in favor of playing Ultimate Mega Strike 3. The two of them fought together in the game world as seamlessly and effectively as they had during akuma fights, meaning that they defeated their online opponents every single time. Marinette had taught Adrien her attacks, so now Adrien could do more than frantically mash buttons at the speed of light and hope to win.

Now, he strategically button-mashed. It made a world of difference.

"Has Nathalie let your instructors for all of your activities know that you'll be out of town?" Mrs. Cheng asked Adrien as she handed him a sandwich.

Adrien nodded. "Mr. D'Argencourt wasn't happy about it," he added. "I've never been out of town before. Sometimes I've had to miss a day or two of class here and there, but never weeks. And he's also not thrilled that I'll be missing a couple fencing matches. Thankfully none of them are qualifiers, so it doesn't really matter, but it's nice to get the practice in with people I don't fight with every week."

"And your other instructors?"

"Well, Nathalie is in the middle of trying to find a new Mandarin instructor for me. The last one quit." His former instructor had quit only shortly after Mr. Agreste was arrested, and it had come as a bit of a shock to Adrien. The man had been the first person to treat Adrien as though it were somehow his fault that his father was an ass and a criminal to boot (and unfortunately, had not been the last). Nathalie had told Adrien that if the instructor were going to be that stupid, Adrien would be better off without that man anyway. Now Nathalie was looking for a new instructor, one that would stand up to the quality that Adrien needed. "And my piano teacher always goes on vacation for a month in the summer anyway, since she has kids in school and they go to see her husband's family in southern France."

"And your basketball coach?"

Adrien laughed. "He's used to people running off during the summer. We would have had fewer practices anyway."

Mrs. Cheng returned to the stove to retrieve Marinette's sandwich. Nooroo flitted to her shoulder as she did, settling down happily and accepting a bit of fruit as a snack. Adrien grinned at the sight.

Nooroo definitely deserved to have a nice holder like Mrs. Cheng after having to deal with his father for so long.

"I don't know how you keep on top of all of that during the school year," Mrs. Cheng told Adrien as he and Marinette settled down at the table to eat. "Plus photoshoots and being a superhero! Utter insanity. You must be very good at juggling everything."

"Well, basketball and fencing and Mandarin and piano were only one lesson each per week during the school year," Adrien told her. "And Mandarin and piano were only an hour each, not counting homework and practice. It wasn't that bad, but it'll definitely be easier next year without having to run off for attacks. I might try to cut back on some of my other lessons too, but... I mean, what I'm allowed to drop depends on who I have to persuade." Nathalie would probably allow him to drop an activity or cut back on how often he had a teacher come over for lessons, but his mother might not.

"What would you drop?" Mrs. Cheng asked. She looked interested, as did Nooroo. "Anything in particular?"

Adrien gave it a couple seconds' thought. "Well, I might cut back on piano lessons, because I'm already pretty good. And I want to change my Mandarin lessons to be more conversational and less homework, because I'm pretty good on paper. I don't think that several hours of homework per week is going to help me grow that much at this point."

Mrs. Cheng perked up. "Oh, if you wanted to come over and help me behind the corner some days, we could practice conversational Mandarin. Or perhaps Master Fu would be willing to practice with you. He knows Mandarin as well, after all."

"So I could do that instead of lessons?" Adrien considered it. He really liked that idea. "I like that. I might text Nathalie and tell her, so she can stop looking for a replacement instructor."

"It would be more fun than homework for sure." Mrs. Cheng snuck an impish look at Marinette. "And perhaps Marinette will pick something up. I tried teaching her Mandarin when she was younger, but I don't think she remembers much."

Marinette pouted. Adrien grinned. His girlfriend's expressiveness was the best and never failed to amuse him.

As the two teens ate, Mrs. Cheng bustled around the kitchen. Nooroo zipped after her, sneaking bites of whatever she was working on. Tikki and Plagg floated over to join their Chosens, and Plagg tried to steal the cheese from Adrien's sandwich when he wasn't looking. Adrien swatted him away.

"Can Marinette make me a cheese bread bowl today?" Plagg asked, undeterred. "I know it's not Thursday, but we're going to be gone for weeks and I'll be getting stupid mushrooms for most of the trip. Dried mushrooms and Cheddar and Parmesan, at best."

"Or Gouda and Gruyere," Adrien added. "If we can find all of that at the grocery stores. It really depends on what's available, so... it might just be all Cheddar. We can't bring cheese across the border, so we can't just stock up here."

Marinette giggled. "We're going to be the weirdest shoppers ever, between all of the kwamis' foods. Chocolate and sugar cubes for Tikki, cheese and dried mushrooms for Plagg, honey for Pollen, dried fruit for Trixx-"

"But can I get a cheese bread bowl today?" Plagg interrupted. "Pretty please?"

Mrs. Cheng glanced over at them. "Are you two all packed and ready to go?" They nodded. "Then I think it would be nice if you make the bread bowl. And then you could make white chocolate-lavender cookies while that's baking."

Tikki perked up. Plagg cheered.

"So that's the rest of the afternoon for us, then," Marinette said with a laugh. "Adrien?"

Adrien was sitting up eagerly. "Yeah! I love learning how to bake."

"I'd say that we can take any leftovers on the plane, but..." Mrs. Cheng glanced over at Plagg. "I'm not sure anything will be left."

Plagg looked like he was thinking about making a rude noise. Thankfully, he reconsidered.

"I need to get back downstairs to check up on our summer counter worker," Mrs. Cheng said once they were partway through their lunch. "But you know where the recipes are, Marinette. Just make sure that everything gets cleaned up, okay?"

"Of course, Maman," Marinette promised.

"And Tikki- I'd like at least a couple cookies left over for the trip tomorrow."

Tikki giggled. "Of course, Madam Cheng!"

[chocoluckchipz]

A Bride for the Prince - 18

A03 ~ < Previous  ~  Next > 

He was an idiot. A stupid, arrogant, heartless fool! Marinette, probably, hated him now and he deserved it all. How could he be so naïve and careless as to think that he could change a centuries-old tradition when he couldn’t even control his own life? 

Pathetic. 

Because there was never a chance he’d be allowed to marry Marinette, and Adrien should’ve known that. He should’ve never hoped. He should’ve never promised her something that wasn’t in his power to fulfill. But most of all, he should’ve been the one to pay the price for his stupidity. 

Instead, it was Marinette. It was her whose heart he’d just shattered into a million pieces. It was her whose tears and agony still echoed in his soul as he slid down on the floor beside his bed, curled in on himself, holding his head in his arms. 

What had just happened? 

A pitiful groan slipped Adrien’s lips. How could he live with himself after what he’d done? How could he ever forgive himself for hurting an innocent girl whose only fault was to fall in love with him? And it didn’t matter that his own heart was trampled on and stabbed and left bleeding at the side of a road. The guilt of betraying the trust of the one who loved him weighed more heavily on him than any heartbreak of his own ever could.

Damn it!

Adrien gripped his fists tighter, his nails sharply digging into his flesh. Even losing his mother, the most agonizing event of his life so far, hadn’t hurt this much. Yet, he had no choice. If he wanted Marinette safe, if he wanted her home with her friends and family, if he wanted her alive and well, he had to let her go. 

No matter how much he didn’t want to. 

Despite how much it hurt. 

Even if it broke them both. 

Her well-being was of utmost importance. Adrien couldn’t lose another loved one, and if he’d try anything else for their marriage to happen, that could just be the case. He knew his father. He couldn’t risk it. Not with Marinette on the line. 

He only hoped she’d understand one day. Because heartbreak, no matter how hellishly painful now, would fade and heal eventually. She’d find happiness with someone else who’d cherish and love her and who would make her happy the way Adrien wished he could. He dared not to wish for her forgiveness. If only she’d forget him like a bad dream. That would be enough. For him, knowing she was alive and safe would be enough. 

Didn’t mean it hadn’t absolutely devastated him. 

His body aching, gripped by the pain, Adrien slowly got up and crawled on his bed, lying fully dressed on the top of his sheets. He closed his eyes, fully succumbing to his misery. 

He should’ve listened to Nino and stayed away. Why couldn’t he keep his distance? Why did he have to rush and tell her he loved her? To kiss her and worship her? It would’ve been easier if he’d never touched her or knew she loved him back. How was he supposed to forget her now? Her scent? The softness of her skin? Her lips? Those adorable, sweet noises that slipped her mouth as he’d held her in his arms, kissing and caressing her breathless. How was he supposed to suppress that fire she’d ignited in him?

Impossible. Not for him. Never. 

He’d created his own hell because, for Adrien, the memories of Marinette, knowing what it felt like to be with her and realizing he’d never have that again would be the worst punishment of all. 

And that was why from now on, he would blindly follow Nino’s advice. Heck, Nino could even choose a bride for him tomorrow because Adrien couldn’t care less. It wouldn’t be Marinette. That was all that mattered.

Gripping at his chest, he let the tears flow. The time stood still, a silent witness to his sorrow, and for hours that felt like an eternity, Adrien shifted and turned, got up and lay back down, unable to neither settle nor make it easier. There was no rest for him tonight. He didn't complain; he didn’t deserve any. When the crow announced the sunrise, Adrien shivered, pangs of pain crawling through his skin. The day was here. He was twenty, and he would be engaged by the time the sun goes down. 

Numb to the point of apathy, Adrien blankly stared in front of himself. The sunrays sneaked into the windows and glided across his face, warming up his skin. Adrien turned away. Tears ceased a long time ago. He didn't have any left, or so he’d thought because when about an hour later, someone knocked on his door, his eyes moistened again.

He didn’t want to do this.

He wanted Marinette.

The knock repeated.

Pathetic groan escaped his lips. He couldn’t have her, and he had to do this if he’d wanted to ensure her safety.

So, Adrien got up, splashed some cold water on his face and opened the door.

“Mme Bustier?" His heart sped up, knowing the reason his late mother’s maid was at his door first thing in the morning. With everything that was going on, he’d almost forgotten. He did forget. 

“Oh, sweetheart.” The older lady reached forward to gently touch his cheek the way his mother used to when he was hurt or upset. “What happened?”

He closed his eyes, bowing his head as he leaned into the touch. “Rough night. Nothing unusual. Please, come in.”

The older lady looked at him with motherly concern, stepping into his room. She wasn’t his parent, but Caline Bustier cared about Adrien, perhaps more than his own father did. She was the one who’d helped him through the hard times when his mother passed away, and she was the one who still regularly visited him years after her retirement. Adrien appreciated that and always gave her as much of his time and attention as he could. On his birthdays, however, he awaited her visits with a special fervour because, on those days, Mme Bustier always delivered a very special present for him. 

“Your father’s giving you grief?”

Silently, Adrien turned to look sideways. There was no need to reply.

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

He shook his head. “It’s not just him. I messed up, as well. Royally .”

Mme Bustier sighed. “So, I assume the rumours are true?” 

“What rumours?”

“That one of the girls is a commoner and you’re in love with her.”

His lips slightly ajar, Adrien stared at her for a good while before whispering, “How—How do you know? I thought no one knew.”

Mme Bustier sadly smiled. “Don’t underestimate the local gossip. Those girls know everything and everyone. I overheard enough to put the pieces together delivering a letter to your father.”

Adrien frowned. “I didn’t know he gets letters on my birthdays as well.”

“Usually, he doesn’t. Both of you get your letters on your respective birthdays. However, today, I had one for him as well, and I decided to deliver that one first.”

After a moment’s pause, Adrien motioned to a chair for Mme Bustier to sit down before dropping into the neighbouring one himself. “Do you remember Marinette from DuPont?”

“Your friend? The baker’s daughter?”

“Yes. She’s here under the name of Lady Bug.”

Mme Bustier quirked an eyebrow. “That’s… interesting. But then, I’m not surprised you’re in love with her. You more than liked her even back then.”

Adrien let his head fall into his hands, prompted on his knees. “I tried to reason with him, but Father forbade me even thinking about her. He went as far as threatening to imprison or exile Marinette if I won’t marry someone noble.”

“An exile?” Mme Bustier gulped. “He’s going overboard. How can he even justify an exile?”

“Apparently because we know each other, she could’ve been hired by someone to spy on me or control me or whatever else nonsense he came up with.”

“Marinette isn’t like that. She was always very sweet and sincere and kind,” Mme Bustier frowned. “I do, however, wonder, how and why is she here? And pretending to be Lady Bug, nonetheless.”

“The day real Lady Bug was supposed to depart for the castle, she eloped with her fiancé and sent Marinette here in her place. And you know, Marinette,” he sadly chuckled. “She’ll do anything for a friend. Even something crazy like this.” 

Mme Bustier fell silent for a moment. “Does Marinette know who you are?”

Adrien nodded. “She does now, but until a few hours ago, she thought I was a simple guard, a maid’s son.”

“And is there the slightest possibility your father might be right? I know we remember her as a sweet, innocent child, but, Adrien, a lot of time has passed. We don’t know how she grew up and, in your situation, you can never be too careful.”

Adrien closed his eyes, his chest tightening. “If you’d only seen her reaction when I told her who I really was, you’d know it wasn’t fake. Or if you’d seen how she behaved before that, you’d know she’s still just as innocent as ever. She spent time with me only when I was the guard. The prince was barely able to keep her anywhere near himself, and when she had to remain close, she was quiet and shy, nothing like the real her. So, no, I don’t think Marinette came here to make the prince fall in love with her, and even if that would’ve been her intention, don’t you think her commoner’s origins would’ve been discovered sooner than we could’ve tied the knot? She’s smart. She would’ve known it’ll never work.”

“That makes sense. Have you told your father this?”

Adrien let out a bitter puff. “He wouldn’t listen because the ‘commoner’ part is an instant deal-breaker for him, despite even the law not forbidding me to marry outside of my class. Can you believe it, Mme Bustier? Despite what I’ve been taught all my life, there are actually no legal restrictions at all.”

“And does your father know that?”

“He does, but that doesn’t matter to him because apart from the law, there are traditions , and he isn’t going to break them or let me do that.”

Mme Bustier sighed, taking a moment to think about something. “Does she love you, Adrien? You as a person, not your stature.”

Despite his heartache, Adrien couldn’t keep a bittersweet smile off his face because Marinette’s love was the biggest present he didn’t deserve. “She does. Well, she did because she might hate me now, but yesterday we confessed our feelings, and she agreed to marry me when I was just a guard in her eyes.”

Mme Bustier’s eyes widened. “You’ve proposed to her?”

“Yes.” His voice cracked. “But I also broke it off already after Father found out the truth about her.”

She reached forward to lay her hand on Adrien’s. “Then you can’t give up, Adrien. Your mother raised you to be a man who always keeps his word, so if you’d promised that girl to marry her, you can’t give up. If you love her, if you truly believe that she’s the one for you, then fight for her.” 

“I wish I could,” Adrien cried. “But what else can I do? I tried what I thought would work for certain, but it backfired badly. And now, if I disobey his orders, Father will either imprison or exile Marinette, and I promised to protect her. If I try again, I’ll only make it worse and lose even what deal I was given.” He shook his head. “No. I can’t do that to her. Heartbreak will heal; she'll move on and will find someone to love instead of me, but there is no guarantee she'd survive imprisonment or an exile. I can’t put her in any more danger than she’s already in.”

“What about you?” Mme Bustier asked, watching him intently. “Do you think you’ll be able to move on? Will you be able to forget and find someone else to love? You're too much like your parents, Adrien, and both of them had a place for only one person in their hearts. There is a reason your father never remarried, and that's not because there’s a lack of willing and eligible candidates for the Queen's title.”

Adrien looked away. “I'll have to deal somehow. I always knew I was going to marry for the kingdom, not for myself.”

“But you went through so much trouble to find someone you’ll love. You can’t give up now. Adrien, I’ve seen you grow up. I know you. You’ll never forgive yourself if you give up now because all of those What Ifs will drive you crazy and will make miserable for the rest of your life. And that isn’t fair to either you or Marinette or whatever girl you’ll choose instead of her, so think. There has to be something you can still do.”

Adrien shook his head. “I’ve tried everything I could think of. I can threaten to abdicate, but I’m sure I don’t have to explain how this can backfire even worse than it already has. I’d rather not risk Marinette’s safety any more.”

They both fell quiet for a moment, sounds of lively chatter and excitement starting to leak from the outside. People were starting to get ready for the big day. Adrien wanted nothing more than to vanish. Anything, but choosing someone he couldn’t care less about to be his wife and seeing Marinette, his best friend, the woman he loved, heartbroken in the crowd and not beside him.

“Adrien.” Mme Bustier intruded into his train of thought. “Do you remember how your father used to be much kinder and happier when your mother was still alive?”

“Yes. He was a different man then.”

“And do you know why that is?”

Adrien shrugged his shoulders. “Because he had Mother. He changed after she passed away”

“Right. But did you know that he used to be just like he’s now before he met her?”

Adrien frowned. “What do you mean?”

"In his youth, your father was always just as cold and distant as he’s now. I don’t know how, but your mother was able to see that deep inside there was something good in him, and somehow, she was able to bring it out. He was a changed man because of her, and even though he shoved that good part of him back on the burner after her passing, it’s still there. Don’t give up, Adrien, find what your mother saw in him and bring it out. That’s your only chance.”

Adrien fought back tears as he whispered, his whole body trembling with desperation. “ How? I’m not my mother. I don’t know how to do what she did.”

“No, you aren’t Emilie,” Mme Bustier said, reaching to hold his hand. “But there is a part of her in you, and you might not use the same technique as she did, but you’ll be able to find a way to that better, understanding, loving part of him. You know it’s there. You’ve seen it. Now, use what you know about him and drag it out. For your Princess’ sake.”

Adrien stared at Mme Bustier with wide eyes. Wasn’t it a little bit too late for that? If he could, he’d do anything to change his father’s mind, but…

Wasn’t it over?

Marinette’s words came to mind. The ones she’d begged him to pass along to the Prince at the very start as he was teaching her to dance in the Crystal Ballroom. The ones he needed to remember now.

It isn’t over until it’s over.

But despite how it looked… was it really not over?

True, he was still single and no bride was chosen yet, but he knew his father. Once Gabriel made up his mind, there was no going back. There was no point in continuing to fight unless Adrien wanted to make everything way worse than it already was. His shoulders slumped. He shouldn’t repeat his own mistakes. He shouldn’t search for hope where there was none. 

Mme Bustier stood up and, taking a letter out of her purse, offered it to Adrien. “Happy Birthday, Adrien. May all of your wishes come true.”

“Thank you, Mme Bustier.” He took the letter with a shaking hand, opening it only after his late mother’s friend had left. A simple letter, a precious gift his mother left him before her departure. She’d written one for him and his father for the next fifty years after her passing. She’d entrusted them to Mme Bustier, her maid and closest friend. Since then every year, the woman had been visiting them on their birthdays, delivering a priceless gift they both eagerly awaited. This year, Adrien hoped his letter would be a little more special than usual because today he needed his mother to be by his side as never before. He needed that courage and strength she’d always inspired in him, and he was running out of time, so without further delay, Adrien read. 

 My dearest son,

Happy birthday! Oh, how I wish I could’ve been there for you today, to hug you, and kiss you, and bless you on this very special day. But since I can’t do any of that, I just wanted you to know that I’m so proud of you, Adrien. I know you grew up to be an amazing man, and I love you, my child. More than any words could ever express. More than I could write in a thousand letters. I do hope you can feel at least a part of my love for you through these pages. 

I thought about what to wish you on this special day, but I’m certain that you have no need for the riches, beauty, strength, and such. You already have it all. You always did. That’s why I wanted to wish you something else, my son. I want you to have something more important and precious than all the riches of this world, something that will nourish and support and keep you going your whole life. I wish for you to find love: to fall in love with someone, be loved by them, and be with that person for eternity. Love is what really matters in this world. Nothing else can compare. Believe me, I’ve had it all and love overshadows everything.

Now, if I know your father well enough, he’ll follow that obnoxious tradition and you’ll be forced to choose a bride today. If that’s the case, I hope you had enough time to spend with your potential brides to see who they are not only on the outside but where it really matters: inside, their characters, their souls. I’m sure all of them would be beautiful girls, but, Adrien, choose the one with whom you can be yourself. Choose the one who would love you at your worst. Choose the one who will stay by your side even if you were a beggar. 

Do you remember that girl from DuPont? Marinette, the baker’s daughter? I’m sure you do; she was your first love even if you were a little oblivious to that yourself. It makes me smile even now as I lay in my bed, unable to get up anymore: you were so adorable, transforming into an awestruck puppy as soon as you’d see that girl. Try to remember, Adrien. Do you recall how much fun you had together despite your social rank differences? Can you recollect how happy you were then? How much you laughed? How much you enjoyed to just be together with her, be it a wild adventure in the fields or a silent star-gazing on a random rooftop? Do you remember how sweet and calm your dreams were, or how early you’d wake up in hopes of sneaking out and meeting her as soon as possible? I’m sure you remember. 

Choose a girl that will make you feel the same. You’ll have to spend your whole life with that person. Don’t rely on beauty or smarts. Etiquette means nothing; it can be taught. The way a girl makes you feel is most important. Choose a bride, listening to your heart. Marry for love, my son. That’s the only thing I wish for you on this special day with all my heart and all my soul and all the strength I still have.

Now, I know your Father might give you grief about your desires since you’re a prince and have responsibilities and whatnot, but please, don’t judge him too harshly. He’s had a hard life and a harsh upbringing, and he needs your love and support as much as you need his. But just in case, know that just today, he promised me that he will allow you to marry for love. He swore he’d let you experience what we had, and if there is one thing your father never breaks, it’s his promises. He takes too much pride in his honour and his reputation, so if he’ll oppose your choice, remind him of his promise to me. 

I love you, Adrien. I wish you all the happiness in the world, and I’m so sorry I can’t be there for you today but know that my heart and my love is always with you. 

Love,

Mom.

***

“You promised!” Adrien yelled, rapidly nearing his father’s desk. “You promised mother you would let me marry for love.” He put his mother’s letter in front of Gabriel. “You can’t break your promises!”

Gaping, Gabriel stared at his son in shock. Never before had Adrien simply burst into his father’s study without either being invited or requesting to be admitted. By the way Gabriel’s lips pressed together and his finger grabbed at his own letter laying in front of him, Adrien suspected he didn’t have to explain what promise he was talking about.

“My promise didn’t include the ‘commoner’ part. And it certainly didn’t have a 'criminal’ notion in it.”

“She isn’t a criminal! How can you not see it, Father? You liked her. You were so impressed with her, you said she had what it took to be a queen. Does her social rank matter so much you’ll throw away your own, unbiased judgement?”

Gabriel stood up to look Adrien in the eyes. “She infiltrated the castle and impersonated a noble lady to get to you. How can you not see that? She isa criminal, and you are not marrying her!”

Adrien threw his hands up. “She was helping out a friend who wanted nothing to do with this ridiculous tradition! She wasn't trying to get to anyone!"

“Then why did she sneak around with you at night if not to seduce you and force you to marry her?” 

“She thought I was a guard! We have been friends since we were kids and she had always thought I was a maid’s son. Why couldn’t she spend time with her commoner friend?”

“At night?”

“Both of us were busy during the day.”

Gabriel pressed his lips into a thin line. “You can’t seriously believe she didn’t know who you were.”

“And yet this is the truth,” Adrien replied. “Mother never allowed me to reveal my true stature to anyone if I wanted to play with them, so yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, Marinette didn't know anything. And despite what you think, she ran away from the prince as fast as she could, trying not to be noticed, lest marry him.”

“Then I guess it all works out.” Gabriel huffed. “She achieves her goal of not being noticed and goes home while the prince marries someone of his own status. End of story.”

“No, it’s not!” Adrien stepped closer. “I love her, Father, and she loves me, and you promised mom you’ll let me marry for love. You have to keep your promise, or I shall not be inclined to keep mine as well.”

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. “Meaning?”

“I promised I’ll go along with your stupid tradition and choose a bride on my twentieth birthday, didn’t I? Well, guess what, Father? I really don’t feel like choosing a bride today unless it’s Marinette.”

Gabriel’s lips almost disappeared under the pressure he was putting on them. “That’s a centuries-long tradition, Adrien. You cannot break it.”

“I don’t care,” Adrien said, leaning forward on his arms, prompted on the table. “I’m your son, and I’ve always followed your example. And, right now you ’re teaching me to break promises, and I intend to follow your suit as I’ve always done.”

Gabriel’s glare turned dark. “We’ve talked about it, Adrien. If you don’t want her to be thrown into prison or exiled—” 

“If you dare to do that,” Adrien seethed through his teeth. “I’ll act, too. Lock her up if you want; I’ll go to prison with her. Exile her if you wish, but know that I will follow her.”

Gabriel paled. “You’re the sole heir. You can’t abandon your kingdom and your responsibilities.”

“I can do whatever the hell I want because my father taught me I can go back on my word.”

“That’s not quite the same—”

“You promised to let me marry for love. I promised to be a good ruler and take care of this kingdom. What’s the difference? It’s just two promises, and if you can break yours, I can break mine.” 

“Are you threatening me?”

“If you wish to think of it that way, then yes, absolutely, I am threatening you.”

Gabriel’s glare deepened. His jaw stiff, he pressed his lips together. 

A moment. 

Two. 

Ten. 

Adrien didn’t look away, assuring his father of the seriousness of his intentions with each passing second. 

“You’re overreacting.” Gabriel looked away, his defences cracking for the first time in Adrien’s life. “You’ll fall in love with someone else just as easily. Didn’t you like Lady Riposte—”

“I don’t want to fall in love with someone else. I want Marinette,” Adrien insisted. “I’ve always loved her. Even back at DuPont when we were children, I loved her. Do you really think a love like that can pass or be forgotten? Have you forgotten mom?”

Gabriel seemed to flinch as he closed his eyes and slacked back into his chair. He kept quiet for a few moments and when he’d finally spoken his voice had lost most of its firmness. “She’s a commoner, Adrien. I’m sorry, but royals don’t marry commoners.”

“Says who? The law doesn’t forbid it. I won’t be breaking even your precious tradition because I was supposed to choose a bride from a pool of presented ladies and Marinette is a part of it.”

“By trickery. She isn’t noble.”

“Then show me where it’s specified in your tradition that only nobles can be included in that group.”

Gabriel huffed. “Tradition dictates—”

“ Tradition . Not law. There’s no rule—”

“There are no rules because it’s common sense! No self-respecting king would allow his children to marry a commoner!"

“Or is it because it’s up to each ruler’s discretion?” Adrien paused for a moment, composing himself. “Father, I love her. She’s more than fit to be a queen by your own judgement. You married for love. Why can’t I?”

“She isn’t a noble,” Gabriel parroted, his voice now bearing almost none of formal resolve and strength. “What will people say?”

Adrien scoffed. “Is that all you care about? Your reputation?”

“Reputation is everything for a king. You’ll learn that one day.”

“Father, they will love you for being open-minded and not prejudiced towards the majority of your kingdom’s population. I’ve been sneaking out to the town for years, and if I’ve learned anything about the people of this kingdom, it’s that a union with a commoner will only raise you in your subjects’ eyes.”

“In theirs, maybe.” Gabriel sighed heavily. “But we need to keep good relations with the noble families, not commoners. And nobles aren’t as liberal as you seem to be.”

“Then make her a noble,” Adrien cried out without thinking. “If that’s only the question of having a title, you have the power to give it to her.” 

Gabriel’s eyes snapped to him. “Do you think that’s so easy? I can’t just create a new title. Titles come with lands, and we don’t have any unassigned lands.”

Adrien’s thoughts raced. Then he remembered something. “Give her one that doesn’t have a successor.”

“There’s no such thing,” Gabriel scoffed. “If a noble dies without an heir, his title and land go to the nearest relations and there always some.”

Adrien pointed to the crest framed on the wall to his right. “Give her that one.”

Gabriel sucked in the air, his face reddening. “You’re going too far.”

“Am I?” Adrien crossed his arms over his chest. “That is my title, my birthright, whereas you have no claim to it whatsoever. Or am I wrong?”

Gabriel remained silent for a few moments; then looked away.

Adrien continued. “Aunt Amelie renounced her rights to that title when she married Duke Graham de Vanily, so Felix isn't a contender for it; not that he’d even care to dispute his rights to a Count title when he’s a Duke. And even if Felix was a contender, I was born a few months earlier than him, so I’m the rightful owner of the Noir title, and I can do whatever I want with it. Give it to Marinette. It’ll go to my children, no matter who I marry, so why can’t my wife have it before that? In the end, it won't change a thing.”

Gabriel closed his eyes, his head falling into his hands, elbows propped on the table. He didn’t say anything, but Adrien saw that the victory was his already, so he pressed.

“You have a choice, Father: make Marinette a noble and gain an amazing daughter-in-law who'll be a fantastic queen one day, or refuse and lose a son and your only heir."

“Everyone knows that the Noir family doesn’t have suitable maidens to be presented to you. There are only Amelie and Felix, but they are bearing Graham de Vanily title now, so the Noir title has no one but you. How would I explain the sudden appearance of an eligible girl from your mother's side?”

Adrien shrugged. “Spin a tale of a long-lost branch of the family tree that was discovered recently, or just tell them she’s a commoner. I don’t care either way.” 

Gabriel leaned back into his chair, watching Adrien. A few moments later, he bitterly chuckled, shaking his head. “You truly are your mother’s son.”

Adrien’s lips tagged in a smug smile. “I’m sure I have a lot from you as well.”

“Unfortunately,” Gabriel sighed. “She’ll have to get a proper education.”

“That won’t be an issue. Marinette would love to learn. She always did.”

“Her family will have to be included in the title as well if the ‘lost branch’ tale to be seen legitimate, meaning they’ll have to move into Noir mansion in DuPont.”

“I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“I’ll send for her parents and have all the necessary papers to be prepared by the end of the day.” Gabriel stood up and walked to a massive chest of drawers standing by the wall. He opened one of the drawers and pulled out a small box. From inside it, he took a golden ring with a brilliant red diamond in the middle and gave it to Adrien. “Go, before I change my mind.”

Slowly, Adrien took the ring, his chest full, a goofy smile stuck to his lips. Tears lurking at the brick of his eyes, he could think of one thing only:

He did it!

He actually did it!

He was going to marry Marinette!

His Marinette will become his wife! 

His heart skipped a beat at a sudden thought drastically different from the others: would Marinette still want to marry him after all he’d put her through this night? Would she be willing to marry a prince? His status brought some strings attached that would influence their family, so—

“I see you’re waiting for me to change my mind?” his father interrupted his rapid downfall.

“No.” Adrien jerked. “Thank you. I’ll go tell her—I’ll go propose—Yes. That. I’ll get going. Thank you.”

“Make sure to compose yourself before that,” Gabriel threw after him. “The way you sound right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if even a commoner will say No to you.”

Adrien didn’t respond as he walked out the door with that one thought hammering at him. 

Would Marinette want to marry him now that she knew who he was and after he’d broken her heart so cruelly? 

She wanted a husband that would always be there for her. She wanted a family, children and a warm home, and he would want nothing more than to give her that, but he couldn’t promise her to always put her above his responsibilities. He’d do his best and would make sure she was happy with him, but would his words be enough to convince her? Did she love him enough to overlook his royal roots? Did— 

“Adrien!” 

Adrien stopped in his tracks, spotting Nino running to him. He pushed the doubts away. No need to distress. He had to believe. He had to have faith in Marinette and their love. They’ve gotten this far. They couldn’t fail now that their biggest obstacle, his father, was behind them. 

“You look happy,” Nino quirked an eyebrow as he’d reached him. “Did some—”

“Father approved her,” Adrien grinned, gripping Nino by his shoulders. “Nino, Father approved Marinette. I can marry Marinette .”

Nino’s face fell. “That… There might be a little problem with that.”

“What do you mean?” Adrien frowned. “What problem?”

Nino swallowed. “Marinette… she left.”

Adrien gripped at Nino’s shoulders. “What do you mean Marinette left?”

Nino shrugged. “Alya said she left in the middle of the night. I was coming here to let you know.”

“Where did she go?”

“Back to her lady.”

Adrien let Nino go as his thoughts raced. Marinette’s lady? Lady Bug. So, DuPont? No. Lady Bug eloped, so she wouldn’t be in DuPont but rather in her husband’s place. What was his name? Lord—Lord Stone-something—

“Lord Stoneheart,” Nino said as if reading his thoughts. “I grew up close by.”

“Saddle Plagg. I’ll go change and let Father know.”

“You’re going after her?”

“Of course. I need to present a bride by the end of the day. If I don't depart now, I won’t make it in time.”

Nino let an amused puff of air out. “Then I guess I’m going with you. I know that area well.”

“I’d appreciate it. Thank you.”

“What are friends for?” Nino chuckled. “If not for helping to catch a runaway bride.”

Adrien bumped his shoulder. “Exactly.”

They parted to prepare for a journey, Adrien trying his hardest not to let his doubts overtake him again. He pushed through as he’d informed his father of his departure and dressed for the road. He tried to remain as hopeful as possible once Plagg and Wayzz were ready for them to depart. He started his journey determined because there was only one way to find out if Marinette would have him now that she knew the whole truth, and that was to find her and propose again. This time without any secrets between them.

[callmeakumatized]

This Does Not Define You

(( So, Author’s Note or whatever first, because this is so important.

PSA: Thomas Astruc was asked through a tweet if he would consider putting in a character in the show who had Asperger's, to which he replied: "If you watch carefully the show, you may already find one."

And then I saw someone talking about October 10th being Disability Awareness Day.

And while I haven't found anything else mentioning this day, I couldn't let this opportunity to pass up…and here's why: You need to know that your "disability" does NOT define WHO you are or WHAT you can do.

I live with depression and "debilitating" anxiety. Some days are better than others, and, in fact, I have felt more myself in these last few months than I have in the last 5+ years. But there were dark days. I'm a suicide survivor. Twice, at two very different parts of my life. The second time I had to literally be "babysat" constantly for about a month and half. It was horrible. But I wouldn't trade that for anything, because it helped me grow into the person I am now. Now I'm on medication. And at first, I was embarrassed. People talk about disabilities as physical, mental, learning, etc., and part of those include things like Autism, Asperger's, Anxiety, and Depression. And I heard people talk about depression as a mental illness, a mental disease, and I felt dirty. People ask, "Why are you so sad? You have nothing to be sad about!" And I'm like, "Why am I so sad? What is wrong with me?"

But here's the thing that my awesome doctor helped me with. He calls this my diabetes. Sounds weird, right? But listen. If I had diabetes, it would be just something I have, an imbalance in my system that needs medication to keep me going, to keep me alive. This depression is the same way. It's not my fault. I didn't do anything to make this happen. It's just a part of me, something that can't be helped.

So, to finish this PSA, I have some words of advice: It's OK. It's OK to have a "disability". It's OK to not. It's OK to be yourself, even if you don't really know what that is right now. You don't have to have the answers, the "whys" to everything to be able to live a good life. And you are worth living a good life. For your loved ones, sure, but most importantly, really, for you.

Go talk to a doctor, please don't try to self-diagnose. Those docs are there to help. Really!

One more note: If you are feeling depressed, anxious, or just…off…talk to someone. A friend, a family member, your doctor, anyone.

If you don't have anyone to talk to, you can always talk to me. My e-mail is callmeakumatized AT gmail DOT com. (I know, original, right?)

And if you suspect someone might be having troubles, or suicidal thoughts, be that person to ask them how they're doing.

I love you all. Thanks for reading this, and please spread the word, share a hug, and spread the love. *hearts*

-Maki ))

"There's nothing more to do!" Ladybug almost yelled out. Her speech, though technically directed to Chat Noir, was let loose into the open Parisian air. Ladybug ran her hands through her hair, stalking around the rooftop, breathing becoming more labored by the moment. Chat hung back for a moment. Not because he didn't care, but because he did. He cared so much, he knew to hang onto every word, listening for true source of her distress so he could know how to perfectly help his Lady.

"I mean, Chat…they just expect so much of us…" Ladybug drew out, looking up to him momentarily. "The Mayor, the press, Paris…the world. What more do they want? We sacrifice everything for them – everything! How many years has it been? Years, Chat! Six? Seven?"

"Seven," Chat confirmed, recognizing her need for a direct answer here.

"Seven. Years. And we wasted how many dancing around each other?"

"Five."

Ladybug fisted her hands together before immediately relinquishing them. "Hawk Moth is gone. Vixen and Bee are here now, helping out. These people…they just…they just expect so much more than I feel like I can give them, Chat."

Point one.

With tears in her eyes, Ladybug looked up to Chat, her short hair ruffled slightly by the wind.

"Chat…what else do they expect us to put on hold?"

Point two.

"How are we…how are we supposed to live? I want…I want a life with you, Chat…Adrien. I want to just be with you."

Point three.

Marinette was worried about their plans for the future…and she was worried about failing in the eyes of her beloved Paris, and her beloved partner. Those were the three main points, though it didn't seem like that was really…it. As she paused in her soliloquy, every fear and emotion that had been trapped inside breaking through in tearful release, Chat moved forward to envelop her in his arms. She started to sob lightly into his chest. He placed a kiss into her hair, thinking how best to word his reply while committing every passionate word she uttered to memory.

"Marinette, there is nothing you could ever do that would be a disappointment to this city." He took a breath, deciding how best to word his next thought. "And if the pressure is too much…quit. Hawk Moth is gone, our job is done. You stood for this city for years…you're allowed to live a life." Lightly pushing her back so he could look into the eyes he loved so much, Chat continued in a more hushed tone. "And I would give up every one of my nine lives just to have the privilege to spend one with you."

"I don't deserve this."

"What?"

Ladybug sighed. "I'm not…I'm not whole, Chat. You know that. That's why we're here. That's why I'm ranting to nothing and for no reason and rambling and can't make up my mind about anything. And you…you're whole. You're complete."

"Don't, don't do that Marinette. The only way I would ever be whole is by being with you. I told you that when we stood across from each other at the altar, and you know I would never lie to you, Bugaboo."

Despite herself, a small, small smile flickered to Ladybug's lips. As fast as it appeared, though, it vanished. A tear-filled grimace replaced it immediately.

"Asperger's, Chat. I have Asperger's. What if…what i-if our…our kids –"

"Don't you mean our kittens?"

"Ha! No." Ladybug sighed, shaking her head before pulling away from Chat and turning away. "What if our kids have Asperger's too? O-Or something else, because of me, because of my –" Ladybug faltered here, wringing her hands together.

Ladybug was strong, but Marinette was stronger. Adrien had seen all sides of her for the past seven years, and loved each and every piece of her completely. She was always prone to freak-outs, or getting stuck on a subject, or maybe, perhaps, being a little too aggressive at times, whether against an Akuma or something less threatening. When a doctor had put a name to the "disability", Marinette had been glad at first, thinking things would change. What happened, however, was a shy girl filled with anxiety second-guessing herself even more, closing herself off from the world. That was when she had finally reached out to Chat. Or, rather, Chat Noir cornered her one day when he caught Ladybug sobbing in the shadows at the top of Notre Dame.

She had confessed everything. Everything. And she expected him to treat her differently. When he made no indication of doing so…that's when the real path to "healing" began.

Healing meaning Marinette being as accepting of herself as she was to everyone else.

And now they were here, at the true source of his precious lady's distress. And he would be there for her as he always was, as she always had and would be for him.

"Because of what, Marinette?" Chat asked gently, bringing their wondering minds back into the conversation again. "Because of something you see as a disability? So our kids might have Asperger's Syndrome. Would you love them less?"

"No, of course not. I just…I just don't want them to have to live this way."

"So you have Asperger's, Marinette. And I was raised by Hawk Moth."

"Completely unrelated."

"No, they're not." Chat took a step closer to Ladybug, taking one of her hands in his. "They are both things we were born into. Things that were and are and always will be things we can't change, things beyond our control. And both are things that we could easily let change or define us but we don't. You are and always have been more than you realize."

"More what?" Ladybug turned her small frame to face her husband's more fully, pulling the loose hair around her face out of her eyes, the hand holding her hair resting on the side of her face.

"Just more. You have more strength, more resilience, more courage –"

At this Ladybug shook her head. "I'm always scared, Adrien."

"So am I." Chat put a hand on her chin and lifted her face to his. She needed to hear his next words. He needed her to hear them. "Being scared doesn't make you a coward, Marinette. Running away does. But courage can only come from being scared in the first place and pushing forward anyway. Courage is the embodiment of –"

"Of Ladybug," Ladybug scoffed, pulling her head away. Chat grabbed her back, a hand on both sides of her face.

"Of Marinette," he iterated pointedly. "Ladybug, in turn, is the embodiment of Marinette. You were born as you, as the beautiful, perfect you. You chose everything after that, including the choice to be Ladybug."

Chat leaned forward and kissed Ladybug's forehead before leaning his own forehead against hers. "I love you, Marinette. You. And if our kid-tens are even one tenth of anything and everything that makes up you, they will be the luckiest kids in the whole world." He chuckled slightly, moving closer to her and wrapping his arms around her in a snug embrace. "Which makes sense, considering who their mother is."

Marinette hummed in contemplation. After a minute to digest his words, she muttered quietly into his shoulder, "Do you really mean that?"

Chat didn't even hesitate for a second. "Of course I do."

Chat suppressed his own sigh of relief when he felt the form of his darling, precious wife relax in his arms.

After another minute, Chat couldn't help the contented purr as his beloved returned his embrace, wrapping her strong, lithe arms around his own. She was so strong in so many ways. The tears were there before he could stop them, and Chat nuzzled his head into the crook of her shoulder and neck as he sniffled with thick emotion.

"Kid-tens?" Ladybug questioned after another moment. Both frames of husband and wife shook slightly before giving way to real peals of laughter.

The sun was setting over Paris, over their city, as the two heroes leaned on each other in more ways than one.

Currently it was to hold themselves up through fits of tear-streaked laughter.

"Hahahaha Chat, I'm pregnant!"

Chat froze mid-laugh to check his Lady's face.

"You're…?"

"Yes."

"But…I…kitten…?"

"Baby, yes."

"Ooohh, baby!"

Chat grinned, giggled giddily, and promptly passed out.

Not for the first time, Ladybug rushed over to the fallen form of Chat Noir. This time, though, he hadn't just taken a hit for her, he had shown her more the full extent of the barrier of protection he had slowly built for her over the years, brick by brick. It was all-encompassing, protecting her wholly from the outside, and – more expressly special to her – from herself, from getting in her own way.

There would never be enough ways to express her love for this cat-man.

…Except maybe to have his kid-tens.

They weren't perfect by any means, but they were perfect together, "disabilities" or no.

Fin!